Truth or Dare
by Sweetliberations
Summary: It all started during a silly game of Truth or Dare. But came to an end the night Ali disappeared. Seems some secrets can't be kept. This will also have Hanna/Caleb and Spencer/Toby
1. Chapter 1

_**I have been addicted to this show from the first episode. ADDICTED. It wasn't until season two when I became addicted to Aria and Jason. Figures there yet another show where the couple I really want to see just aren't happening. I do not hate Ezra. Let me state this again. I DO NOT hate Ezra. There's just been so much great stuff that can happen that this story is tormenting me to write it. **_

_**Summary: It all started during a silly game of Truth or Dare. But came to an end the night Ali disappeared. Seems some secrets can't be kept. **_

_**I do not own anything. I don't own Pretty Little Liars. I do not own Aria. I can't lick salt off Jason's chest**_.

_**Chapter One**_

"This is stupid." Cursing under her breath, Aria glowered at the house in front of her and took a step back. The rush of determination from that morning had waned into caution and now she really wished she would've joined Hanna for a mani-pedi instead.

She could turn on her heel and run like a coward. But if she didn't get any answers soon, lack of sleep was going to catch up with her and she'd soon resemble one of those zombies Mike killed in his video games. Aria was already sick to her stomach knowing Ezra was lying to her. What she needed to figure out just how serious his fib was.

Then she could eat a pint of Ben and Jerry's and figure out what she was going to do.

Staring up at the house she'd once almost lived at, Aria swallowed and fought against the memories. There had been so many good times in that house. Laughing, talking, being silly girls. There were days she wanted this nightmare to end, and be that girl again.

"You know you're scaring the neighbors, right?" The voice came out of nowhere, startling Aria from the past. "Is there a reason you've been stalking my house for the last twenty minutes."

Putting a hand over her heart, Aria snapped her attention to the body lounging against the railing and had to force herself to blink. There should be some kind of ordinance against Jason Delaurentis being in public without a shirt.

"Sorry, I was just getting up the nerve . . ." Stalling when her brain caught up with her mouth, Aria blushed and looked away.

"There was a time you didn't have any problem walking up my sidewalk." Watching her carefully, Jason crossed his arms over his chest, making his muscles bunch.

"Things change." Arai replied sadly.

His smirk diminished some. "Is there a reason why you're here?"

"I have an insane question to ask." Barely able to talk past the lump growing in her throat, Aria walked slowly up the path to the Delaurentis porch. Her eyes skipped to the swing on the far side of the house.

"Can't promise I have the answer, but shoot." Keeping his eyes trained on her, Jason watched as the tiny brunette fidgeted, her forehead scrunched as she tried to find the words.

"Did you ever reward anyone that money from your posters?" Her heart paused inside her chest as she watched the surprise flash across Jason's face before he was able to recover.

"Why?" Any previous sign of teasing evaporated from him, as he stood a little taller.

"You know what?" Aria rushed when words suddenly failed her. "It doesn't really matter."

Heading to the steps she'd just climbed, Aria felt his hand on her shoulder to prevent her escape. "Apparently it does."

"Jason, please." Not entirely sure if she was pleading with him to answer her question, or to just let the matter drop, Aria waited as he stared down at her.

"You know the police never recovered Ali's body." He answered slowly.

"That's not what I'm asking." Still half hoping he'd just tell her to leave, Aria pushed one last time. "Did you give someone the money?"

"Why? What's this about Aria?" His eyes narrowed and Aria knew the window of opportunity was up. In many ways Jason was polar opposite of Ali, but the one area where they were the same was their ability to read people and situations. This was one situation she really didn't want Jason to know.

"It's nothing." Licking at her lips, Aria pulled out of his grasp. "Really. I'm just being nosey."

Jogging down the steps before she could reach the landing, Jason positioned himself in her path. "Are you in some kind of trouble?"

Wanting to laugh and cry at the same time, Aria simply shook her head.

"Aria, seriously." Forcing her to tilt her head back and look at him in the eye, Aria swallowed the lie. "Talk to me."

"I can't talk to you about this Jason." Feeling cornered, Aria slipped past his larger frame and headed to the sidewalk.

"Aria." Pausing, her back still to him Aria waited. "I never _rewarded_ anyone the money."

_**a*~~**~~*j**_

"Wait, I'm confused. I thought Ezra explained where the money came from." Shutting her locker, Hanna leaned against it.

"And he gave her some lame assed excuse." Spencer snorted, only to become uncomfortable at Aria's glare. "Please, if you didn't think it too you wouldn't have gone to Jason."

"But I thought you said he'd taken down the reward posters." Ignoring the heated glances between Aria and Spencer, Hanna shook her head.

"He did." Spencer shrugged. "Doesn't mean he didn't give the money to someone."

"And that doesn't sound sketchy to you?" Brow creased, Hanna looked at Spencer.

Knowing she was going to have to spell it out, she sighed. "Jason had the means to supply the money to Ezra. Just because he didn't give the money for information on Ali, doesn't mean he didn't use it."

"And again with the sketchy." Hanna's blue eyes hardened.

"If you think Ezra's lying why don't you just confront him?" Not feeding into Hanna's paranoia, Emily gave Aria a prodding look.

"Because he's hiding something." Aria mumbled.

A humorless laugh passed Spencer's lips. "There's a lot of that going around lately."

"Fine." Heaving a heavy sigh, Aria looked at the ground. "It's something else he said that makes me doubt him."

"Are you going to tell us, or should we start guessing?"

Wishing the ground would suddenly open up underneath her, Aria felt foolish. "Earlier that day he mentioned things were getting tight and we should combine resources."

The last thing Aria anticipated was the absolute silence which greeted her confession. Taking a peek up at her friends, she watched as they stared back at her in disbelief.

"He said what?" Spencer asked slowly.

"Do you need a hearing aide?" Hanna snapped, before rounding on Aria. "You didn't give that slim ball any money did you? You've been buying that lump on a log tons of stuff lately."

"Hey!" Arai cried out, her face burning with humiliation and anger. "Still my boyfriend."

"Some boyfriend."

"Hanna." Emily nudged her sharply. "We don't know the whole story."

Looking at her friend with heartfelt appreciation, Aria reminded herself Hanna was mad on her behalf. "Which is why I am digging for answers."

"While you're digging maybe you should push that no good -."

"Hanna." Quick to move, Spencer started to pull on the blonde's arm, getting her out of the line of fire. "Why don't we grab some coffee."

"Don't mind her." Aria watched as Emily tried to explain Hanna's anger, and knew had their places been reversed she probably say the same things. "She's just really protective of us."

"I know." Watching as Spencer, still tugging Hanna down the hall, turn the corner she turned her attention back to Emily. "What do you think?"

Looking uncomfortable being put on the spot, Emily struggled to find the right words. "I think we've been jumping to conclusions the last few months and have been wrong . . . a lot."

"Amen."

"I also think you should wonder why you're second guessing Mr. Fitz." Touching her shoulder lightly as she passed by, Aria instantly responded his name was Ezra on deaf ears.

Suddenly alone, Aria looked around the deserted hallway and sighed. The day was shaping up to be a suckfest. Turning the combination on her locker, Aria froze when the chip of her phone echoed in the hallway.

With unsteady hands, Aria reached inside her jacket pocket and stared at the screen. Her heart stopped beating.

_**Wanna play another game of Truth or Dare? We all know how the last one ended. A**_


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Notes: So this of course started with stuff from Ep where Aria found the money. But I am not using all of what happened. I will use pieces of what we've seen so far, discarding a little to serve my purpose. This isn't just an Aria and Jason fic, this is a full blown mystery. I hope you all enjoy.**

**A~*~J~*A * Chapter Two * A~*~J~*~A**

Insomnia sucked. Rolling onto her side, Aria tried to make her brain stop working overtime and let her get some much needed sleep. It'd been two days since finding the wad of cash so carelessly hidden in Ezra's sock drawer and sleep had become almost impossible. Now past exhausted, Aria was torn between screaming in frustration and crying in defeat. Nothing she did helped and if something didn't change soon she was going to be bunking with Mona.

For two days she'd volleyed back and forth between being angry at Ezra for his lame lie, and wanting to forgot the entire thing. Justifying that she hadn't found any proof he wasn't telling the truth. The brief moments she stopped by his apartment, no matter which mood she was currently in, Aria found it difficult to be in the same room with him. Suddenly the butterflies that once fluttered in her stomach had vanished. Leaving a sick dark feeling of dread instead.

A tiny part of her felt guilty. The part that kept her from totally cutting Ezra out of her life and ridding herself of one last unanswered mystery in her life. He'd risked so much for her. Lost too much for her. Ezra was supposed to be her fresh start at life. Hadn't she promised herself she needed something that wasn't tainted by the past?

With this last though, Aria rolled to her other side and stared at her cell phone on top of the bedside table. Unable to stop herself, she placed her hand on the offending object only to snap it back as though she'd been slapped. Forcing herself to roll back to stare at the bedroom wall, she squeezed her eyes shut.

"Just sleep damnit." Cursing at herself under her breath, Aria clutched the sheets next to her chest and forced herself to take deep breaths.

"Wanna play Truth or Dare?" Alison's voice taunted from the shadows of her head.

Rolling to her back, Aria stared up at the ceiling. No Alison, I wouldn't like to play a game of Truth or Dare with the voice inside my head, Aria groused silently back to the empty room.

For a few minutes the room turned blessedly silent, matching the rare silence of Aria's brain. With only the occasion car driving past her home, nothing seemed to interrupt the quiet.

"You can't ignore me forever." This time the voice was closer, making Aria twitch uncomfortably.

"As if I could." Aria muttered to the empty room.

"So what will it be? Truth or Dare?" It seemed her Alison's subconsciously created persona wouldn't be rebuffed.

"Fine." Gritting her teeth, knowing this was going to end badly, Aria kept her eyes glued to the ceiling. "Truth."

"Where's yours sense of adventure?" Alison's mocked her. "Fine, truth it is. Do you really think I'd ever forgive your betrayal?"

Feeling a cold sweat bead across her brow, Aria kicked the covers off her body and sat straight up in bed. There was no way she was going to just lie there knowing where this insanity was leading. Snatching her phone and pressing speed dial she didn't waste a second shoving her feet into the closest pair of shoes.

"Unlock your door I'm coming over."

**A~*~J~*~ A**

"Who was that?" Twisting the Oreo and licking the crème, Spencer waited as Hanna disconnected the call.

"Aria." Heading to the door, Hanna flicked on the porch light and unlocked the deadbolt. "She's on her way over."

"I thought she was headed home to sleep." Forgetting about the cookie, Spencer frowned. "She looks like crap."

"Duh." Hanna rolled her eyes and grabbed a cookie from the plate in front of her friend. "She found out her boyfriend was a sleaze ball."

"There's no proof Mr. Fitz is a sleaze ball." Spencer smacked Hanna's hand before she could steal another treat from the plate.

"What happened to calling him Ezra?" Hanna snarked, turning to the cabinet for a glass.

Frowning at her backslide, Spencer shrugged. "Guess until we know for sure where the money came from it's safer to think of him that way."

"He's slime." The blonde countered as she poured them both a glass of milk.

"You liked him just fine a few days ago." Both eyes stared at one another until Hanna took a sip of her drink.

Hanna didn't look bothered by Spencer's point. "A few days ago he was broke and sponging off Aria. Now we know he's got bank and still sponging off Aria."

"You really hate men don't you." Shaking her head, Spencer grin faded at Hanna's sad expression.

"I don't hate Caleb." Apparently done with the milk, Hanna headed to the sink and poured out the reaming amount. Her back to Spencer, Hanna took the reprieve to school her features back to normal. "I really miss him."

"You could always tell Caleb the truth." The room grew quiet, as Spencer waited for Hanna's well practiced speech about keeping Caleb safe from the A mess. "It's not like he wouldn't understand.

Instead Hanna just silently shook her head. Taking a deep breath, Hanna turned back and smiled slyly. "I will as soon as you tell Toby."

"Touché."

Knowing they were headed to the danger zone of depression and gallons of ice crème, Hanna pushed away from the counter. "Maybe we should call Emily and make this a real sleepover."

Snorting, Spencer shook her head. "Those never really turn out well for us."

"True."

"Besides I have a test first period." Staring down at the deserted books in front of her, Spencer bit down on her lower lip. She needed to ace the test, her grade was already suffering. On more miserable grade and she may as well start looking into community college. "And you are one missed class away from a month long detention."

"Don't remind me." Making a face, Hanna flipped through her Math book, not really looking at the problems on the page. Before she could sigh in boredom, the twin chirping sound of their phones went off.

Eyeing on another before reluctantly reaching for the devices, Hanna felt her mouth go dry thinking of Aria alone, at night heading to her house. Scanning the message quickly, she felt the stress bubble in her stomach ease.

"How about another game of Truth or Dare Bitches? This time it's really going to hurt. A."

"I don't know about you, but my day is never complete without a warm and cheerful threat." Hanna growled and tossed her phone on top of her books.

Looking reflective, Spencer peered down at the screen. "This can't be good."

"Please." Waiving a hand, not looking as stricken as Spencer, Hanna shrugged. "Like this A could be any worse than Alison."

"Please tell me you're joking." Spencer looked at her friend, her face clearly showing her concern. "Alison didn't have half the crap on us than A does. We're screwed."

**A~*~J~*~A**

It wasn't until Aria was a block away from her house that she grasped how totally stupid she'd been. Staring down in disbelief at the bright yellow ducks on her pajama pants, she wondered if she should risk sneaking back into the house to change. Slipping out had been easy enough, her Dad had been on the phone with Meredith and was too preoccupied with flirting. It was sickening.

The upside of small town living, was the lack of witnesses to her unintentional wardrobe. Picking up her pace, Aria tried not to let her mind wander to the downside to living in Rosewood. Especially to young women, walking alone after dark. Young women who had some sadistic a-hole riding their ass.

Clutching the strap of her purse, keeping her eyes trained on the sidewalk, Aria blocked out the creepy sounds coming from the shadows. The fall night was murky, with a slight breeze, strong enough to move tree branches overhead. The chill of the night stung at her cheeks, making Aria wish she would've thought of grabbing a heavier jacket.

Crossing the street, she groaned inwardly as a set of headlights headed her way. Glaring at the offending ducks, Aria prayed no one recognized her. "Stupid ducks."

The car raced past, and Aria let out a sigh of relief. Two more blocks and she would be home free. The thought barely flittered through her mind before the break lights on the car turned red. The suddenly familiar silver convertible started to back up and Aria swallowed a groan.

"What do you think you're doing?" The angry words were already out of Jason Delaurentis mouth before the car window was halfway down.

Looking around the deserted street before turning her attention back to his thunderous expression, Aria shrugged. "Walking."

The car door was shoved open with little finesse. "Get in."

"I'm fine." Closing the door, Aria tried to summons a smile. "I'm just going over to Hanna's. Thanks anyways." Turning on her heel, she didn't look back and hurried down the street. Her feet moved faster the moment she heard the sound of the car door opening and slamming shut.

"Are you stupid?" His tone was furious, and picturing the few times she'd seen Jason really, truly angry she wondered what her chances were for him to just drop the matter and turn back. The sound of his boots following her told her she didn't stand much of a chance. "Get in the damn car."

Sighing in defeat, Aria stopped and turned around. "I don't know what the big deal is. I walk to Hanna's all the time."

"At midnight?" Reaching her, Jason raised a brow while his hand wrapped around her upper arm and started to pull her to his car.

"Yes." Aria snapped back defiantly, while trying to pull out of his grasp at the same time.

His jaw clenched, as his hold tightened. "I'll drive you."

Dragging her feet, Aria still struggled. "Why are you so angry?"

"Because I would think you of all people would know how dangerous it is to walk around this town alone after dark." His words were like a bucket of ice water being thrown over her head, defusing the angry fuse inside her chest. Letting him guide her back to the car she waited while he opened the passenger door. Unable to look him in the eye, she slipped onto the leather seat and nearly jumped when he shut the door with more force than necessary.

When he slid behind the wheel the atmosphere in the car remained tense. Making no move to start the engine, Aria watched him from the corner of her eye as he tried to compose himself. "I'm sorry. I guess I wasn't thinking."

The words seemed to make him more upset and instead of pushing she turned her attention to the side window. The silence was deafening, and she wished he would just say something.

"I don't want anything to happen to you." The words were practically whispered, and acting as though he hadn't said a thing Jason turned the key in the ignition and pulled away from the curb.

What was she supposed to say to that? Aria groused silently to herself, inching down in the seat while keeping her attention trained on the scenery passing by the window. How could she hold onto her anger over his highhanded behavior when all he wanted was to keep her safe?

"Why didn't you just drive to Hanna's?" This time his tone seemed calmer, and Aria chanced another look in his direction.

A soft smirk touched her lips. "I don't think I father would appreciate waking up and having his car missing."

"Your boyfriend couldn't take you?" He made a face as though he'd just licked the bottom of a dung covered shoe.

Perhaps if she was returning his calls, Aria thought sarcastically in her head. Instead she sent him a look telling him he was crossing the line. "Take the next right."

"I know where Hanna lives." Tilting his head to take a brief glance in her direction, Jason smiled sadly at her acknowledgment. Of course he knew where Hanna lived. How many times had Alison forced him to drive her there? "You're staying the night? I don't need to worry about you trekking back later do I?"

"It's kind of an impromptu sleepover." Picking at an imaginary fuzz ball on her pants, Aria shrugged.

They drove the rest of the way in silence. Aria nearly cried in relief when he pulled over to the side and rolled to a stop. "If you change your mind call me." His green eyes pleaded with her not to argue, making Aria's eyes roll.

"You're not my chauffer." Trying to keep the mood light, she impulsively leaned over and kissed his cheek. "Thanks."

"Aria I'm serious. If you need a ride call."

"You're a great friend." The words felt empty and her stomach hurt as she watched him look away. "I'll see you around." Escaping the confines of the car, Aria hurried up the walkway before she changed her mind.


	3. Chapter 3

Note: Here's the next part and I really want to thank everyone for their feedback. For some reason I am having an issue with formatting my document after upload.

* * *

Chapter Three

* * *

"Showers all yours." Breezing into the kitchen, Hanna stalled at the sight that greeted her. Leaning over half dead, Aria barely lifted her head in acknowledgment. Her eyes skipping to the coffee maker she'd earlier prepped, and stared in misbelieve at the empty pot. "Wouldn't it have been easier to fill the sink with coffee and dunk your head in?"

"Dunno." Aria muttered into the counter. "Let's try it and I'll let you know."

Moving over to the petite brunettes side, Hanna pushed the mop of hair covering Aria's face back and grimaced. "Trouble sleeping last night?"

With a listless laugh Aria barely had the energy to shake her head. "That would be assuming I've been able to sleep the night before. Or before that."

"This thing with Mr. Fitz is really messing you up." Making a face of sympathy, Hanna rubbed Aria's back. Hearing Spencer skipping down the stairs, she waited until they were able to make eye contact. Nudging her chin in Aria's direction, Hanna made a face to make Spencer see what she was seeing.

"Jesus Aria you look like crap." Unable to stop herself, Spencer grimaced at her own outburst.

"Filter not working?" Hanna smirked, happy she wasn't the one who flubbed up and said exactly what was on her mind without thinking.

"Sorry." Seeing that Aria didn't seem to do much but grumble back a response, she turned to the counter to be brought up short. "I thought you made coffee."

"I did. In about an hour Aria will be shaking like one of those rat dogs." Both turned to stare at Aria anxiously. Stepping forward, Spencer pried the half drunk mug of coffee from Aria's grasp. "Perhaps some juice instead."

Without a word Hanna reached into the cupboard and pulled out a glass. "Maybe you should take a mental health day? Kick around here, my mom wont be back for a few days."

"Can't." Aria yawned, as she started to look around the counter. "Where's my coffee."

"Wow." Spencer mouthed to Hanna.

"Aria maybe you'd be able to sleep better if you'd just make Mr. Fitz tell you the truth." Hanna reasoned, taking the juice out of the refrigerator and sniffing the contents before heading back to the empty glass.

"And how would I do that? Water torture, or bamboo under the fingernails." Aria grunted.

"You could do both." Smiling brightly, Hanna placed the glass in Aria's hand and stood back.

"Or I could just break up with him." Aria sighed before taking a sip, ignoring Hanna's heavy stare . Her tongue felt like there was fur growing on it, if she weren't so tired she would've been totally grossed out. Instead she ran the top of her tongue along her teeth. It would have to do until she gathered enough energy to get her butt off the kitchen stool.

"I'm good with that." Hanna chirped, shrugging off Spencer's sharp look.

"Don't do anything until you can think about it clearly." Spencer countered, only to receive one of Hanna's disgusted looks. "What? All I'm saying is if she waits until she's coherent there wont be any guilt."

"So in the year 2050 I should have a course of action." Taking another sip of the juice, Aria hoped it would wash away some of the coffee after taste. Blinking her eyes several times to clear her vision she tried to shake her head to clear away some of the fogginess. "My eyes burn, and my head is spinning."

"Lack of sleep will do that." Spencer reasoned.

"It's not like I'm not sleeping on purpose." Her jaw nearly cracking as she yawned, Aria rubbed at her eyes.

"Have you tried taking something?" Hanna asked innocently.

"Of course." Aria slurred, her head bobbed down slightly. "But my brain seems to have this super resistance to anything. The rest of my body is dead tired, but the longer I lay there the more things I seem to think about."

"Like Mr. Fitz." Clearly repulsed by the man in question, Hanna made a face. Aria on the other hand looked down at her juice, but not before the other two spied the guilty expression on her face.

"What else has that busy little brain been pondering?" Intrigued, Spencer leaned over and rested her forearms on the counter. Her studious eyes nearly sparkled.

Knowing she couldn't put the text off much longer, Aria reached for her phone and nearly unseated herself when her head started spinning. "Well there's this too." Trying to hand over the phone, Aria wondered why it suddenly felt like a hundred pound brick.

Without any hesitation, Spencer relieved her of the phone and peered down at the screen. "When did you get this?"

"A few days ago." Barely able to answer, Aria had to concentrate on the words until they came out of her mouth.

Peering over Spencer's shoulder, Hanna read the screen. "We got the same lame text."

"You mustn't member last game." Aria mumbled before losing all ability to control basic motor functions and fell forward onto the counter.

Turning a worried look toward Hanna she froze at the blonde's bright grin. "What did you do?"

"What do you mean?" The corner of her mouth pulled as she eyed Aria intently. Positive her friend was out for the count she sighed. "Jeez it's about time."

"Hanna?" Spencer sent her an accusing glare. After years of knowing the other girl, Spencer wasn't fooled by Hanna's innocent angel look. "What did you do?"

Pulling a prescription bottle from her jacket pocket, Hanna jiggled it. "These little buggers were my best friend when my leg was broken."

"You slipped her a mickey?" Clearly put out, Spencer grabbed the bottle out of Hanna's hand. "Jesus Hanna, have you lost your mind?"

"Please, look at her." Waiving her hand in Aria's direction, they both looked over to see the tiny brunette was already drooling. "Eww."

"Now what are we supposed to do?"

"Um, let her sleep." Clearly not seeing why Spencer's panties were in a bunch, Hanna headed to the foyer to retrieve her purse and school bad.

"Please tell me you never babysat." Following her, Spencer grabbed the bag from the blonde's hand. "We can't just leave her there, drooling on your kitchen counter. She could fall. Or have some kind of allergic reaction to the pills."

"Huh. I guess I didn't really think that far." She had never really been one to think about the details of a plan, it was more Spencer's department. "I can stay."

"You can't miss anymore classes."

"Then you stay."

"I have a test." Spencer answered through clenched teeth.

Thinking for a minute, Hanna smiled again. "Call Toby. He doesn't have to worry about school."

"But he does have to worry about a job." Reaching into her bag, Spencer dug until she found her phone. Going through her contact list she stopped at their only hope.

"Who are you calling?" Trying to catch a glimpse at the screen before Spencer put the phone to her ear, Hanna glowered at being kept in the dark.

"I need a huge favor."

* * *

A~*~J~*~A

* * *

For the first time in his life, Jason walked into the Marin household. It was a little strange seeing how Hanna had once invaded him home on a daily basis. In the past he'd only slowed down enough to shove Alison out before speeding off again. He wished he could feel guilty, but being a realist he knew with Alison their brother sister relationship would have always been volatile. Perhaps one day they would've outgrown their animosity, thought that realistic part of him seriously doubted it.

Following Spencer down the hall, he eyed his half-sister and wondered what life would've been like if he'd grown up with her, instead of Alison. He wasn't delusional, there was no way he wouldn't have gone postal in the Hastings household. He knew his life would probably be much different if he'd had someone growing up who could see past their own personal agendas and petty concerns.

The bottom of his boots echoed down the hall and came to a halt as he entered the kitchen and saw Aria's tiny body slouched over on the kitchen counter. Barely taking time to register Spencer's guilty expression, he hurried over and pushed the dark curtain of hair away from her face.

"What the hell is going on?" His ice cold green eyes pinned the two other girls who were currently looking guilty as sin. It may have been a few years, but he didn't need a Brother's Handbook to tell when something was up.

It was Hanna who first gave in when the silence in the room seemed deafening. "She hasn't been sleeping well and would really appreciate it if you could just keep an eye on her. Thanks." The words flew out of the blonde's mouth so fast, Jason was surprised she didn't sprain her tongue. Without wasting a moment she turned to the door and tried to make a hasty escape.

"Whoa!" Quick to block her, Jason looked down at her startled expression with darkeneing eyes. "What's going on?" Repeating his original question, Jason turned his attention to Spencer.

"Well." Looking to Hanna for a second, Spencer seemed to be struggling with some inner turmoil until she simply shrugged. "It's like Hanna said. Aria hasn't been getting a lot of sleep and it's caught up with her."

"And." Knowing there was more, Jason was determined to get to the bottom of why Aria was practically in a coma.

"We may have given her something to help." Hanna hedged.

"We?" Spencer stood up a little straighter, and gave her friend a heated glare. "Is there a French mouse in your pocket? There's no we."

"Fine." Hanna huffed. "I may have slipped her something to help her sleep."

Putting out his hand, Jason made a motion for her to give him whatever she used. With an air of being put out, Hanna turned to the counter and snatched up the incriminating bottle. With heavy step back to where he was waiting, she slapped the item into his out stretched hand.

Lifting the bottle to read the tiny writing he let his eyes skim over the name. "How many did you give her?"

"Just one." Now insulted, Hanna put a hand on her hip. "I was trying to help her sleep, not kill her."

The words hung in the air and no one spoke for a minute. Knowing Hanna had the ability to be blunt, Jason let her statement go. "How?"

"I put it in a glass of juice." Finally looking contrite, Hanna looked over at Aria. "They're not going to hurt her, are they?"

Taken aback, Jason looked from one girl to the other as they waited for his answer. "How would I know. I was a stoner, not a pharmacist."

"Right." Where some may have felt bad, Hanna didn't seem to care how her question could've been taken as an insult.

"So what am I supposed to do?" Still not entirely sure what was needed of him, Jason looked uncertainly over at Aria.

"We can't miss school." Spencer supplied, looking relieved to get past the how of the matter. "Can you stay with Aria? We can't leave her like this."

"You mean slumped over the counter like a drunk sorority girl?" The set of his mouth grim, Jason eyed his sister sternly. "Why didn't you two get her somewhere safe?"

"I can't exactly move her." Putting out her slender arms to make a point, Spencer lifted a brow at his lopsided grin.

"Why me? Doesn't she have a boyfriend?" Again he said the word with a slight sneer. He couldn't help it. Ezra Fitz was a major asshole. At the same time he didn't know why he kept pushing back. In the end there was no way he was going to let Spencer down the first time she reached out for help. He didn't want to think of how he was relieved over something so stupid of being the one they called instead of Ezra.

Watching the hesitant exchange of looks between the girls, Jason interpreted all he needed to know. It may have been a few years since he shared a house with a little sister. But he'd become an expert at reading the 'girl' look. There was trouble in paradise, but seeing how he had the wrong equipment they'd never come out and tell him.

Which was just fine, as far as he was concerned. He just didn't need the super nerd breathing down his neck for 'over-stepping' his boundaries. Again.

"Will you please stay with her?" Spencer used her trump card by sending him a pleading look.

"Fine. But she can't stay there." He was surprised in her current state she hadn't fallen off the stool, Jason wanted to get Aria somewhere safe.

"You can put her in my room." Hanna rushed before he changed his mind. "I have a TV up there so you don't have to be totally bored. And the take out menus are in that drawer." Pointing over her shoulder at no particular cabinet.

"I think I have most take out places on speed dial." Trying to make light of the situation, he didn't waste second before scooping Aria's tiny body into his arms. He tried not to react when she cuddled up to him and sighed.

Turning to the stairs he looked over at Hanna who stared back blankly. "Which one is your room?"

"Oh." Blinking, Hanna seemed to take a second before answering. "First one on the left."

"Well we've gotta go." Pulling Hanna by the arm, Spencer smiled gratefully one last time at her half-brother. Following to the door and watched through the side window as they rushed down the front walk, their heads together in what appeared to be a very tense conversation.

Girls, he'd never understand them.

Feeling Aria shift in his arms, Jason froze and chanced a look down. Sleepy hazel eyes tried to focus on his face and he felt his heart skip a beat as he held his breath.

"Jason?" Her voice was barely above a whisper. "Where did you come from?"

"I'm here to keep an eye one you." Looking down at her with concern, Jason could almost see her brain trying to process his words.

"Oh." She looked confused and his heart went out to her. Her blurry gaze passed over him briefly before closing again. "When did you cut your hair?"

A warm chuckle escaped from him before he could stop it. "A year ago."

"Liked it long." Snuggling deeper into his arms, Aria sighed.

"Well I liked the pink streak in yours."

"I'm still mad at you." Her words were barely a whisper, but they still packed a heavy punch. Not knowing what she was referring to, Jason moved to the stairs. For all he knew she was talking her in sleep, and would never make sense of her words.

He told himself her words meant nothing, but taking another step he couldn't help but ask. "Why are you angry at me?"

Staring down at her, her body securely in his arms, Jason was disappointed when she didn't answer right away. Reaching the landing, he headed to the door on his left when her words drifted up to his ears. "Cuz you don't remember."

It was clear she'd slipped back into a deep sleep, and Jason didn't realize he was standing stone still in the entrance. What could possibly be just garbled words of nonsense, held so much meaning and for the briefest moment he let his imagination get the best of him.

He couldn't help be think of his admission to her. Of that summer where so much was still unknown. Did she really think he'd forgotten everything? That he didn't recall the many bright spots of that summer? Is that why things had played out the way they did for them when he got back?

With a disgruntled grunt, Jason shook his head at his stupidity. Things happened the way they did because he'd been a complete mess. It really shouldn't have surprised him she'd gone after that douche bag. On paper Ezra was everything he wasn't. Smart, accomplished, an all around good guy. Ezra also had the luxury of not having his past under the towns scrutiny. Because if he did, the outcome might have been a little different.

Moving again, perhaps a little more cautiously to keep Aria from waking, he made it to Hanna's bed and set his bundle down. She stirred only the slightest, letting out a quite sigh before rolling onto her side. She was an enigma, always had been. From her clothes and hair, to the off the wall stuff that would come flying out of her mouth. It really didn't matter she was in constant motion, or her moods were never really the same, she intrigued him. Always had.

Take last night for instance. Walking down the street after dark, in bright pink pajama bottoms with happy yellow ducks. In any other circumstance he would've found her behavior just and Aria thing. After the last two years and two unsolved murders, Jason felt himself being nudged into a red rage. The last thing any girl in Rosewood should be doing was walking down in the dark. He regretted how nasty he'd been to her, his anger was still an ongoing issue he worked on daily.

Shoving his hands into his pockets, Jason stared down at Aria's sleeping form and frowned. She looked so frail, as though she'd lost weight recently. The dark smudges under her eyes made him wonder what was keeping her up at night. What in the world was going on that would be so bad to keep her from sleeping?

He didn't like what he saw. He just needed to find a way to help.

* * *

A~*~J

* * *

Picking at the questionable contents on her lunch tray, Hanna's nose scrunched in disgust before dropping the utensil in defeat. "It can't be legal to serve this crap to the future of this country."

"Perhaps it's a conspiracy." Sarcasm dripping from her words, Spencer shoved her tray forward.

Shrugging, Emily took another bite. "It's not that bad."

"Says the girl with taste buds of steel." Hanna replied, ready to make another comment she faltered when she spied Caleb across the room. It was bad enough having to see him at school, seeing how he just stared through her. It really sucked. No, it more than sucked. It blew chunks.

Here she was, protecting him from the A mess, and how is she repaid? She was virtually erased from his sphere. Treated like some kind of leper who may infect him should he come too close.

Following Hanna's blatant stare, Emily watched as Caleb talked with a dark haired female near the lunch line. "Why is Caleb talking to Mackenzie Clark?"

"Apparently he wants to contract VD." Hating how many times she'd spotted the two together, Hanna gritted her teeth when the femme fatale placed her hand on his chest and laughed. "I loath her."

"You have nothing to worry about Han." Patting Hanna on the hand, Spencer shook her head. "She's slept her way up the food chain, and is about as smart as a third grader."

"Yeah, a third grader with a double D cup size." Clearly sick, Hanna gathered her belongings and grabbed her tray. "I'll be in the library." Not waiting for Spencer or Emily to follow, Hanna slipped out of the cafeteria.

Waiting until Hanna was out of earshot, Emily looked across the table. "I'm worried about her."

"Me too." Spencer sighed. "I don't think she actually knows where the library is."

"Not funny." Giving Spencer an exasperated look, Emily tried not to smile. "Breaking up with Caleb has made her . . ."

"Meaner, edgier, twitchy, jumpy, impulsive." Spencer spouted off. "Stop me when I hit the right adjective."

"All the above." Emily commented. "What was she thinking when she gave Aria that pill."

"Not that I support knocking our friends out, but you didn't see Aria. The girl was one day away from cracking."

"We're all one day away from cracking." Emily reasoned, her mouth turned down in a grim line. It amazed her that none of them had completely gone off the deep end. There were days after Maya was found she wondered if she'd ever be able to pull the pieces together. Now, she understood why some people built walls. Walls kept you safe.

"Do you think Mr. Fitz got that money from selling some old car?" Aria's boyfriends feeble excuse hadn't sat well with Spencer. She knew she couldn't talk about it with Hanna. She'd made her feelings on the subject pretty clear.

"I'm probably not the right person to talk about that with." Squirming in her seat, Emily turned her attention back to the cold mound of food in front of her.

Staring thoughtfully at Emily's down turned face, Spencer thought back to all the conversations revolving around Mr. Fitz. Emily had never been on board with Aria's relationship. At the time Spencer had chalked it up to Emily's ridged upbringing. Now she couldn't help but wonder.

"You've never really liked Mr. Fitz." The realization hit Spencer like a ton of bricks. "Why?"

Licking her lips, Emily fidgeted again. "I don't feel right talking about this."

"But it's not going away by not talking about it." Spencer reasoned.

Sighing, knowing once Spencer sank her teeth in, there was no escape. "I just think there's something wrong with a teacher going after one of their students."

"So it's their age?" Spencer questioned, wanting to make sure she understood.

"No." Shaking her head, Emily tried to come up with the right words to express herself. "It's not that. He's only six years older than Aria. He knew it was unethical to date one of his students, knew the trouble he could get into and did it anyways."

"Some may argue his actions were romantic." Spencer reasoned.

"Some, not all." Emily eyed her friend. "But it's also how Aria has changed since Mr. Fitz has come into the picture. She's turned herself inside out to fit into his world. Like she has something to prove."

"She can't be a pink haired punk princess forever Em." Even playing Devil's Advocate, Spencer had thought the same thing.

"And what does she really know about him?" Not taking Spencer's words to heart, Emily continued on. "Where is he from? What about his family? She's made a lot of sacrifices for a guy she doesn't really know."

Drumming her fingers on the Formica covered lunch table, Spencer pondered what Emily was saying. There were too many things about Ezra Fitz that didn't make sense. Her chocolate brown eyes scanned the room until they found the person she was looking for. Without waiting she jumped up from her seat.

'Where're you going?" Blinking, Emily watched as Spencer moved the strap of her bag over her shoulder.

"I'm going to get to the bottom of this." Without waiting for Emily to try and talk her down, Spencer weaved through the crowded room. Stopping in front of a very shocked Caleb Rivers.


	4. Chapter 4

Phew. So this is a long one and I am totally sorry about that. Been busy with work, kids and college courses. Just as a reminder this isn't exactly cannon. I am taking a few things that have happened so far, while changing others. I want to thank everyone for their wonderful feedback. It means alot to me that you've taken the time to let me know what you think. This is my first PLL fanfic. I have updated the story to include Hanna/Caleb as well as Spencer/Toby

* * *

Chapter Four

* * *

"Can we talk?" Using her no nonsense tone, Spencer gave Caleb a brittle, you're such a dumbass smile, before sliding her attention to the tramp who was trying to glue herself to his side. "Alone."

Unable to suppress the smirk at Spencer's holier than thou attitude, making the recent barnacle he hadn't been unable to shake off frown, Caleb nodded to the girl. "I'll catch up with you later." They both watched as she huffed her annoyance before slipping off into the crowded cafeteria. "I owe you one."

"You owe me more than that." Spencer sneered in the girls direction. "Hope you're wearing a body condom when you talk to that thing."

"She's not that bad." Caleb feebly defended his current stalker, not looking as though he firmly believed his own words. "What can I do you for?"

"I need a favor." Looping her arm through his, Spencer looked over her shoulder toward Emily before pulling him out of the cafeteria and out of the earshot of the cafeteria.

"Really?" Sarcasm nearly dripped from his lips as he replied. "And why would I do that?"

"Because you're good at what you do."

Nodding, unable to deny her words, Caleb continued to walk beside her, playing along to see why she was willing to ignore the girl break up code by approaching him. "Haven't had any complaints yet."

Feeling the shift between them, Spencer took a moment to carefully chose her next words. "How good are you at digging up someone's past?"

"Is this just a rhetorical question, or are you asking me to poke my nose into someone's past?" Unable to tell if Caleb was intrigued by her request, or simply playing along Spence erred on the side of caution.

"A little of both I guess."

"So hypothetically speaking, who would I be looking into?" Their stroll had taken them outside to the quad, and they took an empty table.

Knowing he was entitled to know who the conversation was about, Spencer tipped her hand. "Ezra Fitz."

Watching as Caleb processed the information, Spencer could almost hear the gears in his head grinding. "As in Aria's, Ezra Fitz?"

Only able to nod in reply, Spencer took a swift look around to make sure no one was listening in. Turning her attention back to where Caleb was sitting like a stone statue, she didn't get a good vibe. "It's really important."

"Is Aria in some kind of trouble?" His eyes turned ice cold, any trace of humor evaporated.

If she could see the gears grinding before, smoke nearly poured out of his ears as he processed how the sudden interest in Mr. Fitz could affect Hanna. His conclusion may in the end help them. At least that was what she hoped. "Not that we know of."

"I'll do it on one condition."

And that's when Spencer knew the conversation had gone south. The determined expression on Caleb's face meant only one thing. He was one pissed off puppy and he wasn't going to back down. There was no reason to make him say it out loud. They both knew what he wanted.

"I can't." Shaking her head in exasperation, some was aimed at Hanna for being so stubborn and not telling their only ace in the hole what was going on with A, the other at the guy in front of her for being so bullheaded. "I can't tell you what you want."

"Where have I heard that before?"

Waiting as Spencer did an impression of a guppy, Caleb raised his hands up to stop her before she started to hyperventilate. "Here, let me finish for you. I really can't explain, but it's really important, insert desperate face, please Caleb help us do something incredibly sketchy even though we wont tell you why."

"Well when you put it that way."

"I'm not doing anything until I know what's going on." Spencer flinched at the edge in Caleb's tone, trying hard not to let his cold hard stare make her back down. "I'm to the point where I don't care if it's not Hanna who tells me. There's something not right here. I can feel it." Putting a hand to his stomach, he shook his head at Spencer's impersonation of a clam.

"So until that happens the four of you are like any paying customer." Sitting forward, Caleb waited until Spencer glanced up, her eyes wide. "It's gonna cost you $300.00 an hour."

* * *

Updating a file on particularly disturbed student he'd been trying to help, Jason couldn't seem to concentrate. Not when every few minutes Aria would sigh softly before shifting restlessly on the bed. The first hour she'd been out like a log, he'd almost been like some pathetic new parent checking every few minutes to make sure she was still breathing.

Worse, the last hour she's become restless. Almost as though she was having a bad dream. Every now and then she'd let out a whimper, her tiny feet would kick under the covers before settling down again. Just when he could relax, thinking she'd slipped back into a deep slumber, a frown would tug at her lips. What he would give to know what she was dreaming about.

Clicking the laptop closed in frustration, Jason knew when to throw in the towel and admit defeat. Standing from the cramped chair and groaning as he stretched he glared at the stupid, useless chair he'd been a hostage to. What was it with chicks and their dainty, cramped bedrooms? With all their ruffles and pastel colors, useless frail furniture, and plethora of throw pillows. They were every mans worst nightmare. Perhaps it was cruel planning on the parents part. Knowing any straight, self-respecting male who snuck into the holy sanctuary would have a difficult time getting it up.

Scratching his stomach and taking one last glance towards Aria to make sure she was still asleep, he headed downstairs for something to drink. The muscles in his neck and back screamed with every step he took. Stupid girly furniture.

Rolling his neck, relieved when it made a satisfying popping sound, Jason stared at the contents of the refrigerator. Well it seemed the Marin women weren't exactly the domestic types. The shelves were practically bare, with the exception of a bottle of creamer, four yogurts, a questionable take out container, and a half full jug of juice. With a snort, Jason eyed the juice suspiciously.

He'd done some pretty messed up things in his life, most of them premeditated, but there was no way in hell he was going to take a chance and drink any juice in Hanna's home, ever. He'd rather die of thirst before taking the chance of being knocked out cold.

Closing the doors with a frustrated thud, he took a look at the sink and sighed. City water seemed to be the safest option available. Opening a few cupboards to find anything to drink from, his search was interrupted by the sound of a phone vibrating on the kitchen counter. Shifting his attention to the small black device moving over the shiny black counter, Jason told himself to mind his own business.

Scavenging through the drawers in search of the menus Hanna had mentioned, Jason hoped the Marin's had something new to offer. Chinese, Thi, Italian, and something which sounded suspiciously like veggan did nothing to entice him. Tossing the menus back into the drawer, Jason frowned when the phone started vibrating again.

Eyeing the annoying piece of black plastic, he wondered if maybe one of Aria's parents were looking for her. She had slipped out the night before. Then not showing up at school that morning? From past experience he knew those two things never worked well with the parental unit.

Telling himself he was being stupid, and a little girly, he gave up any pretense of ignoring the object by picking it up and staring at the screen. His curiosity quickly faded when he saw three missed calls from Ezra, and five unread messages.

A slow smirk spread across Jason's face, as his thumb itched to delete the calls and texts. Instead he put the phone back down and walked away from the counter before he did something beneath him. Sure he'd feel good for a second, erasing Ezra's attempts to contact Aria. But at the same time it would be immature and down right pathetic. The last thing he wanted was to have something that juvenile linked to him in any way.

Taking the water back up stairs, Jason glared at the butt numbing chair he'd been prisoner to all morning. There was no amount of money that could get him to sit in that damn chair for another second. Not only did it threaten his manhood, but there were parts of his body he still couldn't feel.

Swinging his eyes to the only other option in the room he didn't waste a second taking the empty spot on the other side of Aria. Grabbing the remote, with full intention of finding something to watch until Spencer got back, Jason was asleep minutes before Aria rolled over and cuddled up to his side.

* * *

Taking the long route to her locker, Emily kept her eyes on the floor while approaching Maya's old locker. It was habit really, her feet would lead her in that direction everyday. Just so her heart could break just a little bit more. There were so many things she wished she could change in her life. It was hard not to submerse herself in a hole of self pity. Into that bleak existence that swallowed her whole and sucked up any hope at ever being happy again. Not when she could've prevented the death of the girl who had taken her heart to the grave.

Stupid, pathetic mistakes she'd made. Little white lies flowed easily from her lips, to misdirect Maya. And her treachery hadn't stopped there. How could she forget the countless cover ups? She felt dirty. In the last two years she'd become a person she could barely recognize. Doing things she'd been taught were wrong. Now she was paying for it. Karma was a fickle bitch, and the bitch had claws and a taste for blood.

Pausing only long enough to place her hand on the cold metal of Maya's old locker, Emily quickly moved away before the new owner spotted her and got creeped out. People already looked at her oddly. Some in pitty, while others were still trying to understand her sexual orientation. Emily welcomed the later.

With a sigh, she knew there was just enough time to get to her locker before her next class. With heavy feet she took the next hallway to find Hanna waiting for her.

"You okay?" Though Hanna had done a good job of fixing her make-up, Emily could still see the slightest smudges of mascara under the blonde's eyes.

"Yeah I'm peachy." Hanna answers miserably. "Any better I may have to shove my keys in the nearest electrical outlet."

"You can always change your mind." The words came out unfiltered, and feeling a little bad with how abrupt she sounded Emily turned to her locker and played with the combination.

"I wont put Caleb in danger like that." Repeating her words for the hundredth time, Hanna narrowed her eyes knowingly "Spill it."

"Spill what?"

"I've known you long enough Em, tell me what's on your mind." With the grace of a pit-bull, Hanna braced herself.

Reminding herself she didn't need to be spreading her bleak mood, Emily tried to shrug off the thoughts that'd been on the tip of her tongue for days. "It's really not a big deal."

"Em." And just like that the dam broke and Emily couldn't stay silent another second longer.

"Do you have any idea how many nights I lay awake wondering if I should've told Maya. That what happened was my fault because I lied to someone I loved. That just maybe had she known about A, she would've been safe." Uncomfortable verbalizing her feelings, Emily tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and turned her attention to the contents in her locker. Pretending to search for a book.

"You can't know that." Clearly ready to defend her actions, Hanna pulled at Emily's arm to make her friend turn back to her. "We might never know what happened to Maya."

"Tell me how you'd feel if it had been Caleb they found instead of Maya?" Hating how Hanna jerked back at her stinging words, Emily wished there was a way she could explain the thoughts inside her head.

Caught off guard, and for the first time in forever Hanna didn't have a quick response. Blinking a few times, she tried hard not stop her brain from seriously contemplating Emily's words. To say it would suck would be an understatement. How would she feel if something were to happen to Caleb because she refused to tell him the truth.

"Listen Hanna I can't tell you what to do." Looking as though she wished the conversation was over, Emily took Hanna's hand into hers. "And you know I will support you in whatever you chose. But you asked me what was on my mind."

"I was going to tell him." Hanna choked, wiping away the moister from her eyes with the back of her hand. . "But then his mom was in that accident."

"Hanna, this A person or persons is pulling our strings. I didn't help matters that night at the cemetery. I just can't help but think, the more people we can have supporting us the better."

"Perhaps we should just take out a full page add." Hanna snapped out emotionally, while crossing her arms over her chest as though to protect herself.

"Your mad." Emily simply stated as she listlessly shrugged. "I get it. But I can't change the way I feel."

Hating that she probably made things worse for her friend, Emily couldn't bring herself to apologize. She refused to say sorry for speaking her mind, and if what she said ended Hanna's misery in the end, well it was the best she could do.

* * *

"Three hundred an hour." Barely able to blink past her anger, Spencer stared open mouthed across the table toward an unaffected Caleb. "Are you out of your mind?"

"I'm a busy man, with expensive taste." Caleb smirked. "It's all about supply and demand."

"Expensive taste?" Wondering when her brain would start to function again, Spencer slapped her hand on the table and leaned forward. "Your shoes are from Wal-Mart."

"Does that mean you aren't in need of my services?" Looking ready to stand and leave their conversation, Caleb eyed her, knowing he'd put her in a corner.

"Where am I supposed to get that kind of money?" Spencer tried to reason.

"Your family's rich." Caleb's smirk grew. "I know your shoes aren't from Wal-Mart."

Wanting to reach over and slap him upside the head, Spencer gritted her teeth until her jaw ached. "Your worse than the mob."

"You're comparing me to the Godfather? I'm honored." Placing a mocking hand to his chest, Caleb ignored her scowl.

"If the unscrupulous tactics fit . . ." Raising a brow in frustration, Spencer gritted her teeth. "Fine."

A little skeptical at his easy victory, Caleb eyed her. "Fine?"

"But for that kind of money I want to know everything about Ezra Fitz. I want to know when he was potty trained, what his favorite stuffed animal was. Hell, for that kind of money I want to know if he has any strange birthmarks on his butt."

"You could save a boat load of money if you just tell me what's going on." His last ditch attempt at getting Spencer to fill him in fell on deaf ears. He could see Spencer had drawn a line in the sand and she wasn't going to budge.

"The four of you amaze me." Snatching his bag off the table, Caleb stared down at Spencer's wide eyes. "It doesn't take a person with your stellar IQ to know somethings going on. Something serious enough to produce two dead bodies and one missing corpse. I'll do this for you, but I'm not going to back down. I'm going to find out what's going on. In the mean time, Poppa's gonna get a new pair of shoes."

* * *

Like a cat lazing in the sun, Aria couldn't remember the last time she'd felt so relaxed. Her conscious somewhere in-between sleeping and almost awake, she nestled into the pillow and sighed. Stretching her tiny frame, she snuggled up to the warm safe haven and felt herself being lulled back into sleep. She loved the warm protective cocoon surrounding her. For all she cared, she could stay where she was for the rest of her life and be perfectly content.

Almost pulled back into dream land, Aria felt the gentle shift of her protective shell as it seemed to wrap itself more securely around her. It smelled like the woods in the fall. Clean, earthy, primitive. A sense of serenity flowed through her bloodstream. Like all the bad stuff had evaporated, leaving her at peace. Peace she hadn't felt since . . .

With a startled jerk back to reality, Aria's hazel eyes snapped open, her brain protesting as she forced it to make sense of her surroundings. Mostly of the man, who was definitely not Ezra, she was currently draped over. No matter how hard she racked her brain, nothing she remembered could explain how she ended up in bed cuddled up next to Jason DeLaurentis.

"You're supposed to be sleeping." Opening one eye, Jason watched with smug satisfaction as Aria struggled to reconnect with the English language. His eyes nearly danced when she realized she was still lying nearly on top of him and scurried off the bed.

"I." Blinking, feeling out of it, Aria searched her mind. "Not to sound clichéd, but what the hell happened?"

"Personally, I would never trust Hanna around any drinks in the foreseeable future." Eyeing her until she shows signs of understanding, Jason laughed as she cursed a blue streak under her breath. He'd always like that about Aria. Her quick temper, and her even quicker ability to get past it.

"So Hanna drugged me?" Chewing on her thumbnail, Aria tried to sound shocked. It was useless. Of course Hanna would pop her a pill if she thought it would help. " So you're here why?"

"Let's just say the girls needed some muscle to peal you off the counter." Pushing himself up to rest on his elbows, he kept his eyes locked on Aria as she started to pace the length of the room.

"I fell asleep on the counter?"

"I wouldn't really call it sleep. It would be classified more along the lines of a mild coma."

"Did I drool?" Aria nearly squeaked as she stopped making a trail through Hanna's purple carpet, only to groan at Jason's sheepish grin. "I drooled, didn't I?"

She looked so miserable, almost pathetic staring at him with puppy dog eyes. "Anyone in your place would've."

"Is there anything else I should know about?" Almost afraid to ask, Aria eyed the bed they were recently cuddled on and felt her cheeks grow warm.

Jason paused. "You were unconscious, remember?"

"No." Aria complained. "I don't. That's the problem."

Thinking of what she'd asked while bringing her to Hanna's room, Jason questioned the necessity of rehashing her comments. The only upside in bringing it up would be getting a chance to see her blush again, he did love to see her blush. It was the numerous downsides that made him keep his mouth shut. "Are you hungry? Need something to drink?"

"Can I trust you not to knock me out?" Aria asked him wearily.

"I guess we'll find out." With a slow sexy grin, Jason raised a brow and scooted off the bed. "Grilled cheese, lightly browned, no crust?"

A grin pulled at Aria's lips, as her eyes brightened. "You still remember?"

"Yeah." The words all but knocked the smile off Jason's face. Her words from earlier buzzed inside his head. It was true, rehashing her words, that were most likely pure nonsense, would be counter productive. But the more he stood there, the more intense he felt about wanting to know if there were any truth behind what she said. "Aria can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"Are you mad at me for something?" Looking at her intently, as though her answer meant everything, the silence in the room was almost deafening.

"Why would I be angry at you?" Clearly perplexed, Aria tilted her head to the side. It was her tell. He'd always been able to tell when she was lying to him. She'd get that bewildered expression on her face. Big round puppy dog eyes would stare at him guilelessly, as she would tilt her head to the side.

"You tell me."

* * *

Knowing Emily would probably be waiting for her at their lockers, Spencer hurried through the hall. It gave her time to contemplate how she was going to tell the others about Caleb and his extortion. Then there was if they were going to keep this from Aria or not. How did one tell their friend that their boyfriend was giving them the heavy jeevies and they hired someone to pry into his past? She doubted Hallmark made a card for the situation and couldn't help but feel they should keep the transaction on the down low until they knew more.

Either Aria was going to be spitting mad that they invaded Mr. Fitz's personal life and found he was a boring dud. Or, Aria was going to be spitting mad with a file proving Mr. Fitz was a man they couldn't trust. What was the saying? It is easier to ask for forgiveness than it is for permission.

Approaching the lockers, Spencer caught sight of Emily and Hanna exchanging words before Emily shut her locker before walking off. The hurt expression on Hanna's face made Spencer want to hug the other girl and promise everything was going to be fine. But she'd been lying enough lately and doubted Hanna would believe her.

"Where's Emily running off to so fast?"

"Any other zip code than our current one." With a sigh, Hanna hitched her book bag over her shoulder. "She thinks she's responsible for Maya's death because she never told her about you know who."

Biting the inside of her cheek, Spencer quickly placed a few books into her locker. Odd how it was Emily who'd first spoken the words they all had probably felt at one time or another? How many nights had she lain in bed, wondering if her silence with Toby would someday jeopardize him? Or if by pulling him into the mess their lives had become, he'd be gone faster than she could blink an eye.

"This is where you should be telling me I am doing the right thing." Hanna muttered when Spencer remained silent. "It's not like you've told Tobey anything. Right?"

"No, I haven't." Spence answered carefully. "We also don't have him doing stuff for us like we do Caleb."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Seeing Spencer's blank expression, Hanna sighed. "What happened with Caleb? Is he gonna do it?"

"Yes." Spencer nodded, but before Hanna could look relieved she added. "With a steep price tag."

"How steep?" Hanna eyed her friend suspiciously. "Oh god please tell me you didn't tell him anything."

"I wouldn't do that to you." Spencer scoffed. "He's charging us $300.00 an hour."

Pure shock took over Hanna's body. "Excuse me? Did you just say he's charging us $300.00?"

"An hour." Spencer empathized.

"He can't do that!"

"Yes he can." Knowing it was going to be an uphill battle to make Hanna understand the predicament they were in, Spencer eyed her wearily. "He's hurt and confused. Caleb isn't stupid. He know somethings going on and he knows he's being shut out. This is his way of lashing out."

"Why can't he just lash out like any other guy would? Like starting some heinous rumor about me or something?

"That's not really his style." Spencer smirked. Leave it to Hanna to rather have some bogus rumor floating around school about her than have Caleb use his cyber skills against them.

Before Hanna could continue her rant her phone went off, ceasing any further discussion. Looking through her purse, Hanna's agitated expression slipped off her face as she read the screen.

"What is it?" When Hanna didn't respond, Spencer snatched the object from her hand and read the words that had the ability to stop Hanna in mid-tantrum.

"Jesus." Silently re-reading the text, Spencer looked over to where Hanna was twirling a long strand of her hair around her finger. "You're not really going to do this are you?"

Coming out of her dazed expression, Hanna relieved Spencer of her phone before shoving it back into her purse. "What other choice do I have?"

* * *

"Mad?" fidgeting like a three year old in desperate need of the bathroom, Aria suddenly looked ready to bolt from the room like a scared dear. "Why would I be mad?"

"I can think of a few things." Giving her a pointed look, Jason really didn't need her to answer the question. Her behavior said it all.

"I'm not mad about anything. All good here." Her brows nearly hitting her hairline, Aria swallowed hard before remembering how incriminating her reactions could be. But no matter how cool she tried to act, there was no way to erase the burning sensation from her face.

"So there's absolutely nothing you want to talk about?" He pushed.

The need to do something with her hands overwhelmed her, as Jason stood just feet away with his hands on his hips. He only did that when particularly perturbed. The longer he stared the more uncomfortable she felt.

When she couldn't take much more, Aria started jerking the blankets on Hanna's bed, in a weak attempt to straighten it. "Where's this coming from?"

Hating how easily she could shut him out when pushed, Jason pushed back the flare of annoyance. It hadn't always been like this with them. He missed the times when she had once came to him and could tell him anything. Now, after all that had happened, she treated him like some stranger.

"It's nothing. Let me go get that sandwich." Shaking his head bitterly at how visably relaxed his words made her, he barely turned to the door before turning back to her again. "You know what? Screw that."

"W-What? Jason." Her eyes widened as large as saucers.

"We're going to talk about it. About that summer." Taking a step forward, Jason almost growled when she deliberately took a step back.

"We really don't need to go there." Clearly past her stunned, uncomfortable stage to extremely agitated, Aria analyzed her options. Not above slapping him silly, she contemplated a less aggressive stance as her eyes flickered to the door.

"Personally, I think we should've gone there months ago when I got back." Warning sirens went off in Aria's head. Blaring to escape now.

Never thinking he'd actually stop her from leaving Hanna's room , Aria made a pathetic attempt to get to the door before his larger frame intercepted her path. Lifting her chin and outrage, she took just a second to send him a seething glance before trying to slip around him one more time.

Knowing they could play the cat and mouse game all day long, Jason wrapped his arm around her slender waist. Pulling her flush against his body in a calculated move to force her to look up at him. It didn't overly surprise him she was madder than a spitting kitten. "Just because I've sobered up, doesn't mean I've turned into some poetry spouting, loafer wearing turd. So don't push it."


	5. Chapter 5

I am not totally in love with this chapter. But after a computer crash and losing the original writing, this is as good as I can get it for now. I want to thank everyone for the awesome feedback. Whenever I get writer's block I love to read the reviews, they help me to keep going!

* * *

"Let me go Jason." Placing her hands flat on his chest, Aria tried to push out of his steel embrace. When that didn't seem to work, she squirmed uncontrollably trying to find a sliver of chance to escape. It only prompted him to hold onto her tighter, while backing them up until her back hit the wall.

"Are you done throwing a fit?"

"I don't know." Placing her hands flat against his chest, she tried in vain to push out of his hold. Her efforts were pathetic, and only caused him to tighten his hold. "Are you done being a jackass?"

A bitter smirk spread on his lips. "Fight all you want, we're going to talk."

"You're such a bully." Almost out of breath, Aria knew from past experience he wasn't going to back down. Not even close to hurting her, Aria still hated how he used his strength and larger frame to manipulate the situation.

"Perhaps, but it doesn't change the fact that we need to talk."

"Well guess what? I don't want to talk about it." Past fuming, Aria wanted nothing more than to lift her knee and make a quick escape.

"Well I do." Moving until his lips were mere inches from the shell of her ear, Jason felt her tense. "I handled things badly."

The air felt as though it'd been sucked from her chest as Aria squeezed her eyes shut. She didn't want to hear this. Didn't want to hear him say he was sorry. Jesus why couldn't he just stop?

"When you came to the house after Alison went missing, I was a complete bastard."

A lump rose in her throat, making it almost painful to swallow.

"I said things I really didn't mean."

"Jason, please. Stop." Horrified by the crack in her voice, Aria leaned her forehead against his chest. "It's in the past. Can't we just keep it there?"

"No." His words lacked the anger from before. "I can't."

"Fine. You want to talk about it, lets talk about it. You used me that summer." Pulling her head up, trying hard to make her face expressionless Aria prepared herself for battle. "I can't really blame you, I was an easy mark."

"An easy mark?" Jerking back, his stormy eyes threatened to shoot bolts of lightening. "Is that how you see it?"

"How else could I see it? After we - after everything . . . You just walked away."

Pushing himself away from the wall, Jason ran a hand through his hair in frustration. "You don't know what it was like in that house after Alison went missing. I couldn't remember most of that night, and it didn't help that my own parents weren't overly confident I didn't do something to her."

"How could I have known? You pushed me away."

"Well, I'm talking to you now."

"Maybe it's too late." Aria said with a cocky tilt of her head. "Maybe I'm the one who doesn't want to talk. What happened was years ago and doesn't mean anything to me anymore."

"You're lying." Narrowing his eyes, Jason watched her confusion through thick lashes.

"I am not." Aria snapped.

Moving in closer again, thrilled the wall wouldn't allow her to escape, Jason waited until she started to squirm. "You have a tell Aria. So don't waste your breath trying to deny it. Do you want to know what I think?"

"No, but that probably won't stop you."

"You know me so well." Chuckling now, he let himself enjoy the closeness of their bodies before pushing away from the wall again, letting her go free. "I think you can't help but think about that summer. That you've done everything in your power to avoid slipping back into that wild, fun girl. I think you miss me as much as I miss you."

Like the emotional rollercoaster the day had proved to be so far, he found his humor disappear as Aria stared back at him with tear filled eyes. "Of course I think about it you jerk! You broke my heart that summer."

Looking as though she was ashamed of the words that came pouring out of her mouth, Aria fled the room.

* * *

Holding Hanna's hand tightly in hers, Spencer flinched when an over teased, over painted woman called Hanna's name to tell her she would ready for her in a minute. "Are you sure about this?"

Making a face, Hanna managed to get control of her hand again and flipped through the pages of the magazine in her lap. "Do I have a choice?"

"This is stupid." Muttering under her breath, Spencer shifted in the uncomfortable chair, while her brain tried to figure out a way to stop the inevitable.

"Ah, yeah." Shifting her glance to where Spencer was stewing, Hanna sighed. "Face it, one of us had to be first. And as far as dares go, this one is a piece of cake."

"Seriously, lets go. This is childish." Ready to head to the door, Spencer saw Hanna shake her head. "But you covet your hair."

Turning a bewildered look at Spencer, Hanna laughed. "Only you would use the word covet. Its hair, it'll grow back. Besides, if this is the worst A can do, then they never knew how vicious Alison really could be."

"Do you remember when Alison first started Truth or Dare?"

"Ah, yeah. She had all of us sign a piece of paper saying we'd give something up if we lied or backed out of a dare." Closing the magazine, Hanna looked off into space for a moment. "That bitch made me eat a bug."

"At least she didn't make you streak naked down the street." Just remembering that summer night made Spencer groan in mortification.

"Let's not forget when she dared Aria to kiss Jason."

"How could I?" For the first time since Hanna had received A's text, Spencer laughed. "I don't know who was more shocked. Aria, Jason or Alison."

"Alison wasn't shocked." Grinning, Hanna shook her head. "She was pissed."

"She usually was when one of her plans fell through." Raising a brow, Spencer shook her head.

~~Flashback~~

"Truth or Dare Aria." Alison's coy voice broke through the summer time boredom, making each girl in the room freeze.

From her position at Alison's bedroom window, Aria turned to where Alison sat waiting and looked as though she wanted to leave. After a few seconds of silence, Aria sighed. "Dare."

"How courageous of you." Glossed lips quirked in a smile, as Alison's eyes gleamed in anticipation.

"Not really." Spencer muttered from her position in the corner. "Seeing how you Truth's have been sexually twisted and humiliating."

Glaring over at Spencer, Alison snapped. "I can't help it that you have the sex drive of a ninety year old nun." Turning her attention back to where Aria was braced, Alison grinned like a Cheshire Cat. "I dare you to kiss Jason. And I don't mean some pathetic peck on the cheek."

Hanna and Emily looked at one another in shock, as Spencer shook her head. Aria looked like a child with their hand caught in the cookie jar, and she stared at Alison's knowing expression. Both girls stared at one another until Aria relented. "Fine."

"Now don't be so put out. I am giving you the option of kissing him now, or tonight when you sleep over." She drawled out the last part slowly, making Aria blush.

"Come on, you can't be serious." Looking disturbed, Spencer stared in disbelief.

"Back off Spencer or I'll dare you to do the same, and trust me he's the last person on the face of this planet you want to be kissing." Fire blazed in Alison's eyes, but as quickly as the flames appeared they evaporated and she was smiling again. "This game is supposed to be fun, remember?"

"Yeah, having a blast." Aria grumbled, her tiny hands clenched at her sides. "So let me get this straight. You want me to just go down there and lay one on him?"

"Pretty much."

Looking over her shoulder to peek out the window, Aria groaned. As usual, Jason was lounged next to the pool with his loser friends. Her eyes swept over his bare torso, and felt her face burn. "But he's surrounded by his jerk friends."

With a careless shrug of her shoulders, Alison didn't back down. "Like I said my pet, you have options. You could always back down and hand over Nana Rose's necklace." With a calculated glance down to the chain hanging around Aria's neck, the blonde laughed when Aria's hand reached up to it protectively.

"Not a chance." Without another word, Aria headed to the stairs. She might as well get it over with, then go home and wallow in misery. There was no way she was going to give Alison the satisfaction of backing out.

Her bare feet padded down the stairs and by the time her feet his the landing she swore her mouth was as dry as the Sierra Desert. She knew the others were following. Alison would demand it. With her pulse pounding in her ears, Aria headed to the kitchen and was barely halfway across the room when the backdoor slid open and Jason walked in.

Freezing in place, Aria felt her brain stop functioning.

"Whatever my sister sent you to ask me, the answer is no." Clearly irritated, Jason headed across the room to the fridge, giving her an eyeful of the muscles in his back. Unable to stop herself, Aria's eyes lowered to his waist, where his swim trunks hung low.

A tiny voice inside her head screamed at her to move. If she didn't want an audience to see this train wreck she needed to get the deed done and escape. She was wasting time standing there impersonating a tree.

Without realizing it, Jason had turned around, a Snapple in hand. His mouth was moving, but dear lord she couldn't make out the words. "What?"

"Did you hit your head or something?" Twisting off the cap, he took a deep swallow.

"No."

Looking back at her, he shook his head. "I swear you girls are getting weirder everyday."

Panicked, Aria watched as he headed back outside. "Wait!"

Practically launching herself at him, Aria used his utter shock against him as she placed her hand behind his head to pull him down to her. Placing her lips on his, Aria knew without any doubt of her imagination, this was going to go down in the books as the most unromantic, pathetically executed kiss known to mankind. It had the heat of a polar bears ass in winter, and when it was over she spun around as fast as she could to flee.

The only thing going through her mind was the many ways she was going to make Alison suffer. She barely made it three feet, when a vise like arm hooked around her waist and lifted her off the floor.

"What in the hell was that Montgomery?" His mouth was next to her ear, the heat sending shivers down her spine. "Is that really what you consider a kiss?"

With little effort, he plopped her on the counter. His face hovered inches away. "I have to say I'm a little disappointed."

Somehow finding the ability to communicate, Aria leaned away. "I'm sure your used to it."

For the first time since she'd met Alison's older brother, Aria saw something she'd never seen. Jason Dilaurentis actually laughed. It wasn't one of his usually sneering laughs, filled with anger and discontent. But an honest to god laugh, where is eyes crinkled. Before she could react, he moved in and placed his lips on hers with tenderness she never imagined he possessed.

At first the kiss was chaste, as he gently moved his mouth against hers. His hand moved up her arm to tangle in her thick hair. It wasn't until he used his hold to position her head back that he licked at her lower lip, making her gasp. Not wasting the opportunity, his tongue slipped past her lips to run along hers, creating a new sensation that practically made her toes curl.

His other hand moved along her waist, to her back, as he pulled her closer to him. Pulling his mouth from hers, to give them a second to breath, his lips kept busy nipping up her jaw, to the shell of her ear. Staying there for only a second, he was about to return to her lips when a disgusted cry bounced off the kitchen walls.

"Get the hell away from her you freakazoid!" Alison stood in the kitchen entry way, her eyes spewing hatred and disgust.

With a hasty last kiss, Jason sighed and pulled away. "I can't help it if the ladies can't keep their hands off me."

~~ End of Flashback~~~

Somehow she'd almost forgotten that day, and Alison's anger at watching her dare turn into something she hadn't anticipated.

"Did you ever think there was something going on between Aria and Jason that summer?"

"What?" Spencer whispered back, her eyes wide as she was completely pulled back to the present. "Aria and Jason? As in Jason my half brother, Jason? Why would you think that?"

Shrugging her slender shoulders, Hanna tucked a long strand of hair behind her ear. "I dunno. It's probably nothing."

"Oh no you don't." Twisting to better face Hanna, Spencer leaned in a little. "You can't bring something like that up and not explain."

Sighing, Hanna rubbed at her temples. "I caught her coming out of his room one time."

"The room of doom?" Looking doubtful, Spencer frowned. "Why would she go in there?"

"She said she was looking for her shoes." Hanna claimed, sounding as skeptical as Spencer's expression.

"In his room?" Shaking her head as though to clear it, Spencer rifled through her memories for any other signs she may have missed. "She was acting weird that summer."

"This is Aria we're talking about." Smiling, Hanna opened the magazine again and skimmed through the pages. "She's always doing something a little off."

"Well it would explain her strange behavior when Jason came back for Alison's memorial." Still thoughtful, Spencer crossed her arms over her chest and leaned back against the plastic chair. "And when we all thought he was an A suspect, she refused to believe he did anything wrong."

"Hmmm." Nodding noncommittally, Hanna flipped another page.

"Did you know he kissed her after he got back?"

"Hmmm- What?" With a jerk of her head, Hanna almost gave herself whiplash. "When?"

"She and Ezra we're having issues-."

"That doesn't really pinpoint a timeframe, they're always having 'issues'."

"After her parents got back together and Mike was arrested."

"Oh, the ill-fated dinner party?"

"Yeah. He laid a juicy one on her."

"How come I didn't know this?"

"I'm not even supposed to know it, I was out for a walk and saw them."

"And?"

"Nothing really. She pulled away and that was it."

"I think they'd be a cute couple, much better than that creeper Mr. Fitz."

With a laugh, Spencer shook her head. "There's no way Aria and Jason did anything other than that first kiss."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because if Alison ever found out, she'd would've been furious. Her wraith would've been felt through out town."

"Hanna ?" A tall, stick thin beauty queen approached the waiting area, her blinding white teeth threatened to burn the retina's from a person's eye if they stared too long. "It's your turn. I sure hope you aren't planning on cutting off too much of that gorgeous hair."

* * *

"Emily!" Hearing her name being called out from behind her, Emily looked over her shoulder to where Page was hurrying across the parking lot. "I've been looking everywhere for you."

Page's over eager expression made Emily's stomach knot. Lately it seemed Page was everywhere, staring at her with those puppy dog eyes, or trying to make small talk. Hating to keep brushing her off, Emily wished she would just take the hint and back off a little.

"I'm kind of in a hurry." It was a bald face lie. She had no where to be, but from past experience with Page's over dominant behavior, Emily knew she needed to set up an out before the other girl could start talking.

"That's fine." Acting as though she were out of breath, Page smiled. "I'm actually running late myself. I'm not sure if you've heard of the student's pride group?"

"I heard something about it." Almost positive she wasn't going to be interested in anything Page was going to say, Emily wished she'd just spit out why she'd stopped her. The group was started by an over enthusiastic parent who was trying to find a way to connect with their child. Most of the groups members were forced to attend meetings by their confused parents, who secretly wished their teens were just going through a phase.

"Well we're building a float for Homecoming this year. And we're wanting to do something to tribute Maya." Page's announcement nearly made Emily trip in astonishment.

"What?" This definitely made Emily pause and give Page her full attention.

"Yeah." Making a face, Page looked around before continuing. "I knew you wouldn't like the idea. The group really isn't something Maya would've been part of, and I really tried to change their minds. I was kinda hoping you'd come and help make sure they don't turn it into some nightmare."

"Did these people even know Maya?"

"Most of them go to other schools." Shaking her head, Page fidgeted. "The float is going to be used in each school's Homecoming parade."

"So if they didn't know her, why are they doing this?"

"The parents seem to think her death was somehow related to her sexuality. They believe it was a hate crime."

"Well who ever killed her sure didn't like her very much." Emily snapped back, not feeling the least bit guilty when Page's face turned red. "They aren't remembering her, their using her death as a social platform."

"I'm really sorry." Taking a step back, her face blotchy, Page blinked a few times. "I just thought you'd really like to know about the float now instead of at Homecoming."

"I don't like it, but thanks for telling me." Not able to stand there for another single second, Emily grasped her keys and hurried across the parking lot.

* * *

Growling in frustration as another search came back blank, Caleb ran a hand through his hair before starting over again at step one. What should've been a simple, no brainer job, turned into a migraine of epic proportions. It was a good thing he didn't really intend on charging the girls for this particular job. He had a feeling they'd need to dip into their college funds to pay him for the work he was doing.

As far as the world wide web was concerned there was no Ezra Fitz prior to Hollis College. Caleb even used his not so legal access to the DMV records, with negative results. How could a man with a teaching credentials be nonexistent?

The simple answer, he couldn't be. There had to be some kind of record, somewhere that he could springboard off of and find out who Aria was dating. What he would love, was to have a chance to get some answers as to made Spencer was so suspicious that she'd break girl code and come to him for help. What was it exactly that made her jump the Ezria ship?

Sitting with his head in his hands, Caleb racked his brain for another way to get information on the enigma before him. He kept circling back to the few things he knew without a doubt. One, Ezra Fitz attended Hollis College and graduated the year prior to getting a job at Rosewood High. He'd been a Delta Phi, which was a black mark in Caleb's book. In general, Frat boys were about as trustworthy as politicians, who reeked of corruption and booze.

Fact number two. Ezra Fitz had been a teacher at both Rosewood High and Hollis College. Both jobs had been put into jeopardy at one time or another because of his relationship with Aria. Sure she was a kick ass chick with a huge heart and a killer smile. But looking at the situation realistically, who in the hell put their future on the line for a girl they'd only been dating for a few months?

Contemplating his options, Caleb leaned back in chair and stared up at the ceiling. Both Hollis and Rosewood would've had to of obtained information from Ezra on his identity for employment. With the Patriot Act, it meant a picture ID and social were on file with both institutions. What he needed as to get his hands on just one of those records. Seeing how his office contact from Rosewood High was currently drooling in a mental ward, Caleb knew he was going to need to call in a favor. He only hoped the payoff was worth it.

* * *

Her instincts screamed at her to run. To put as much space between them as possible. Her heart pounded painfully inside her chest as her eyes scanned the kitchen for her bag. With a groan of frustration, she remembered too late her things were still in Hanna's room. She could live without her bag and purse for the day, but she wouldn't get too far without shoes.

Heavy footsteps descended the stairs and Aria was almost ready to say screw the shoes and make a run for it.

"I broke your heart?" He was angry again. His tone was cold steel and Aria looked over her shoulder to watch as he took the last step. "You just left without saying goodbye."

"I had to leave." Looking at him like he were being absurd, Aria placed her hands on her hips. "And I guess when you told me I was a stupid little girl who didn't know when she was being used, I took your words at face value and left you alone."

Closing his eyes against her angry reply, Jason pinched his nose before speaking again. "You know I didn't mean it."

"Really?" Staring at him in disbelief, Aria closed the space between them and poked him in the chest. Hard. "How in the hell was I supposed to know you didn't mean it?"

"Because I came to your bedroom window the night after to apologize."

Okay so he had her there. He had come to her window after her parents had gone to bed. But her pride had been bruised and she refused to listen. It hadn't been just his words that had hit her like a missile. It was his total clueless attitude over what had happened between them.

Now she knew he didn't remember anything from that night. He had told her himself at Ian's funeral how the entire night was a blank. To this day it boggled her mind how he couldn't remember one of the most important nights of her life.

Her anger deflated again, Aria felt a buzz inside her head as something clicked. It was almost as though a huge piece of the puzzle snapped into place and she swore she was going to be violently ill. Licking at her dry lips, Aria looked up at him through her lashes and took a deep breath. "Can I ask you something?"

Looking back at her suspiciously, Jason nodded. "Anything."

"That night, when Alison went missing, what's the last thing you remember?"

"Why?" Narrowing his eyes, Jason tried to understand where the sudden change in her was coming from. One minute she was fighting him, the next she wanted to talk. Instead of keeping on topic, she turned the tables.

"It's important." Swallowing, her heart firmly lodged in her throat, Aria waited for him to answer. "Please."

Blinking a few times, Jason looked thoughtful. "I guess the last thing I remember is . . ."

Heading to one of the kitchen stools he sat down. Aria knew he was struggling to recall the one night he probably wished to forget. It hurt, but she knew in her heart it wasn't his fault. Too much had happened.

"Aria I'm sorry, I was so messed up that summer."

"I know you were experimenting with the others. I get that. But that night, when I saw you . . . When I was with you, you were sober."

"What?" His head snapped up, his eyes searching hers.

"You didn't take anything. I need you to remember for me."

"Aria what's going on?" His tone had an edge again, and Aria knew if - no when he found out there was a huge possibility he may never talk to her again.

Not wanting to get to that point, where he pried information out of her when she wasn't ready to share, Aria changed tactics. "Do you remember Alison coming home from visiting your Grandmother?"

"Yeah."

"Good. Do you remember when we came over to get Alison for the sleep over?"

Closing his eyes, Jason tried to recall every detail his brain could summons. He'd been wearing a black shirt and jeans. Ian had been there, telling him about some stupid thing he'd done. Aria had shown up with Hanna and Spencer and he could clearly recall the tight gray tee-shirt Aria had worn.

"I remember that."

"Okay." Licking her lips again, Aria breathed out. "That parts clear right? When does it get cloudy?"

"Aria you need to tell me what's going on."

Chewing on her lower lip, Aria wished the ground beneath her would open up and swallow her whole. "Do you remember when I snuck away from the others and climbed through your bedroom window?"

Completely thrown off guard, Jason sprung up from his seat and stared at her in astonishment. "Ah, no."

"You weren't stoned. Or-or drunk. You were fine." Seeing he was getting ready to pelt her with a round of questions, Aria continued. "I think someone may have slipped you something."

"Excuse me?" Wiping a hand over his face, Jason shook his head. "Why didn't you tell me any of this before now?"

"It's a long story -."

"I've got time." Staring at her in hurt, Jason suddenly slammed his hand down on the counter. "I spilled my guts to you. I told you I thought I had done something to Alison, when all along you knew I couldn't have! And you still didn't say anything?"

"It's more complicated than that." Aria struggled to make him understand. "There's more, and I . . . I just couldn't."

"That's not good enough." Jason snapped. "What was so freaking important that you couldn't let me know I didn't kill my sister?"

"We made love that night!" Aria screamed back, as a lone tear slipped down her face. "I - I." Sniffing, trying to keep herself together, Aria hated how her hands shook. "I thought you were pushing me away because I did something wrong. Or that you regretted what we did. Worse, I started to believe I had been stupid and that you used me. But then at Ian's funeral, when you told me you didn't remember I was shocked."

"Aria -."

"Sorry to interrupt." Standing in the kitchen doorway, Ezra looked from Aria to Jason. "I knocked, but I guess you two were busy."


	6. Chapter 6

So I went on a writing spree after last nights ep. Fueled with the wonderful and heartwarming feedback from you wonderful readers, I hope this story doesn't fizzle out and keeps you all intrigued. With that said I hope you all enjoy!

* * *

Gripping the folder tightly in his hand, Caleb moved to a vacant table at the Hollis Library and took his laptop out of his bag. The favor he'd called in, turned out to cost him a little more than he'd anticipated, and now somehow he owed his source hours of free labor.

Taking a careful look around, he took a look at the contents and cursed under his breath. How he could miss something so simple was beyond him. Ezra Fitz was actually Ezra Fitzgerald. Nothing suspicious about a person shortening their last name, and his mistake made him feel stupid.

On Ezra's student application it gave Boston as his hometown, and Diane Fitzgerald as his mother. Using the new information in his search, Caleb was mildly satisfied with the multiple hits. Clicking on the first result, Caleb couldn't shake the unease when the page opened.

* * *

"I think I'm going to be sick." Staring at her reflection in one of the windows they were passing on the street,, Hanna whimpered for the hundredth time at her short style. "I really hate A."

"It's a really cute style." Spencer smiled her tone overly optimistic, taking in Hanna's short hair, as her heart broke for her friend. She knew Hanna took a lot of pride in her long tresses. For as long as Spencer had known her, her friend had always had long beautiful hair.

"I hate it." Hanna pouted, tears threatening to spill from her eyes. "I swear when I found out who's pulling our strings, I'm going to pin that masochistic a-hole down and hack their hair off with a rusty razor, before beating them to a bloody pulp."

"I think you're going to have to take a number." Spencer muttered as she checked her phone for any missed calls. "I don't get it, why isn't Jason returning my call?"

"Wait up!" Emily's voice called out from behind as Hanna and Spencer turned at the same time to watch her run down the sidewalk to catch up.

Slowing down as she neared, Emily caught the look Spencer sent her way. After years of being friends, they were able to say more with non-verbal's, and Emily read Proceed with Caution.

"I love your hair." Trying to smile, Emily watched as Hanna's face dropped.

"You're a horrible liar." The blonde muttered. "I look like the little Dutch boy with boobs."

Deciding that changing the topic may be safer than to convince Hanna she still looked great, Emily turned to Spencer. "Any word on Aria?"

"The last time I talked to Jason he said she was still sleeping." Shoving her phone into her purse, Spencer sighed. "That was at lunch."

"Just say it." Hanna muttered, feeling as though the world was out to get her. "I probably put her in a coma and she's going to be the best dressed drooling vegetable in Rosewood."

"I'm sure she's fine." Emily suppressed a grin over Hanna's dramatics.

"Anyone else hungry?" Beyond depressed, Hanna halted in front of The Brew and walked through the open door before waiting for an answer. "I earned a few hundred empty calories."

Following her friend, Spencer shook her head. "I'm meeting up with Tobey later. It's pizza and a movie we wont see much of night."

"I miss make out pizza." Sighing sadly, Hanna added a cupcake to her order.

"Okay, I've had it." Pulling Hanna from the counter, Spencer took her to the side. "Just tell Caleb. It's not like he doesn't know enough already. Besides it'll save my savings account from being pillaged."

"You make it sound so easy." Frowning, Hanna looked up at the ceiling. "But after everything I've lost, I couldn't take losing another person close to me."

Running a hand down Hanna's arm in support, as Emily pulled her friend into a hug, the three females froze when a all too familiar sounding voice drifted over to them.

"Take it from me, you're always better off with a really good lie." As a unit the three turned to the counter where they stared at the back of a petite blonde's body in mouth opening astonishment.

"Is it me, or did that girl just channel Alison?" Spencer hissed, as a cold chill ran down her spine as the blonde tilted her head to the side and let out an eerie laugh. Too caught up in the on goings, none of them were prepared to look away when their object of attention turned and busted them.

"Can I help you girls?" The inflection in her voice, to the way she carried herself almost made the girls shiver.

"We're sorry." Spencer was the first to be able to form actual words, but her eyes still couldn't make sense of what she was seeing. "You just look so much like our friend Alison."

With a cool look of indifference, the blonde cocked her head to the side as though she were measuring their worth. "Dilaurentis?"

"Ah." Emily licked at her lips nervously. "Yeah."

A slow smile spread across the woman's face, but the warmth didn't really reach her eyes. "You're the ones Ali used to talk about all the time."

The double meaning wasn't lost, when it came to Alison one could never tell if her talking was a good or bad thing. "That's us." Spencer responded weakly when no one else spoke up.

"I'm CeCe Drake." Flashing a huge smile, it went down a notch when there was no recognition on her audiences faces. "She never mentioned me?"

"Ali really liked her secrets." Spencer muttered, feeling a little bitter that there was yet another thing they didn't know about their friend.

"Our families used to be tight, we used to vacation together. In fact I had a pretty intense relationship with her older brother Jason." A wicked gleam entered her eyes. "I heard he's living in town again."

"Yeah." Emily answered, when the other two didn't respond.

"Well I better get going. My boss has this OCD thing about punctuality and my break ended like five minutes ago. Stop by the store and I'll hook you guys up." And with that, she headed to the door.

When she was got of sight, Spencer rounded on the other two, a look of shock firmly planted on her face. "Did that just happen?"

"My brain is still trying to catch up." Hanna replied slowly, almost as though her brain was numb.

"Am I the only one who's getting that sick feeling in their stomach?" Blinking at the door, Emily put a protective hand to her mid-drift.

"No." The other two replied in union.

* * *

The initial unease in his stomach, turned into a full blown panic attack within a matter of moments. After a few more searches, Caleb had too many unanswered questions that would take days to sort out. It was mind boggling how one man could hide so much and not combust.

Pulling out a pad of paper and something to write with, Caleb started jotting down notes as he pulled up another page. His pen froze before falling to the table.

"What in the freaking hell?"

* * *

Feeling the air being sucked out of the room, Aria stared across the room at the two men who stared back at her intently. Jason, his body tight with fury over being interrupted at the worst possible moment, looked ready to plant his fist into Ezra's face. She sympathized with his frustration.

Ezra on the other hand looked ready to come unhinged. His body seemed to vibrate with fury. Every one of his movements seemed to be magnified. His breathing erratic, his nostrils flaring with each intake of air, as his fists hanging at his side clenched and unclenched.

Standing across the room, Aria couldn't help but feel she was stuck in some sick and twisted Mexican stand off. After the bombshell she'd dropped, the tension in the room seemed like a tangible entity. Each of them reacting differently to the news, waiting silently to see who would be the first to pull the trigger and speak.

Wishing the ground would open beneath her and swallow her whole, Aria shifted her attention from one disgruntled male, to the other. Several thoughts raced through her head. How long had Ezra been there? What in the hell had he heard? But the biggest question, how in the hell did he find her?

No one, besides Hanna, Spencer, Emily and Jason knew where she was. Heck, she hadn't even bothered to leave a note for her father before making a break for it the night before. So how was it that he managed to locate her at Hanna's? Better yet, why would he just enter a strangers home without knocking?

With the sudden appearance of the butt load of cash, to this nightmare, Aria felt a headache making residence behind her eye sockets. For all she knew it could be some side effect from being drugged, but she highly doubted it. Even during the highly emotional 'talk' with Jason she didn't feel as though her head was going to split in two.

"What's going on here?" Ezra's voice shot out, making Aria jump from the intensity and shock. Never in her life had she heard him speak like that. In the past when he'd been angry, he'd taken a more passive aggressive path. "Is this why you've been avoiding me?"

Staring at the man she'd been with for the last year in utter disbelief, Aria was stunned he would even go there. He knew why she'd been avoiding him. Sure she may have never actually said the words. But when a guys girlfriend finds an absurd amount of money mixed in with their perfectly folded socks, then keeps him at arms length after a poorly executed lie, even a moron would make the connection.

"Don't you dare make this something it's isn't." Totally hurt, and a little sick, Aria shook her head.

"How am I supposed to react?" Pointing in Jason's direction, Ezra looked mad enough to spit. "My girlfriend wont talk to me, but doesn't seem to have a problem spending time with a guy who's been sniffing around for the last year."

"Shut your mouth Fitz." Jason spoke for the first time since Ezra appeared. "Or I'll shut it for you."

With only a nasty look in Jason's direction, Ezra turned his attention back to Aria. "So this is the joke you're going to replace me with?"

"Jesus Ezra, you're being an ass and jumping to conclusions." Feeling as though she were staring at a complete stranger, Aria shook her head, making the pain behind her eyes shoot daggers of pain through her skull.

"Wouldn't you?" Ezra hissed. "If you walked into what I just did?"

"If you would've knocked you wouldn't have walked in on something that's none of your business." Muttering from his spot, Jason almost smirked when Ezra's face nearly turned purple.

"Why the hell are you still even here?" His voice rising, Ezra pointed toward the front door. "Do everyone a favor and leave."

Jason's arms fell it his side, the first movement he'd made and looked dead on at Ezra. "I am not leaving Aria with you when you're acting like a raving lunatic. Besides she and I aren't done talking yet."

Sizing up his competition, Ezra turned to the only other person in the room who could manipulate the situation to give him and Aria a chance to talk alone. "Will you tell him to leave?"

Looking back and forth between the two men, Aria felt the hair on the back of her neck rise. Her gut told her the stupidest thing she could do was be alone with Ezra. Something was off, and it wasn't just the nest egg hidden in his drawers.

"No." The word just slipped through her lips. She honestly felt she would've felt guilty, knowing Ezra would view her decision as betrayal. But at that very moment the last thing she felt was guilt. "I won't."

Jason looked mildly surprised, before his eyes narrowed in suspicion toward a sputtering Ezra. "You won't?"

"You can't just drop in and expect me to drop everything and everyone just because you want me to."

"Perhaps if you had called me back I wouldn't have felt I had to go to this extreme."

"I don't want to talk about it." And she really didn't want to. Placing her fingers against her temple Aria rubbed uselessly.

"So that's it?" Ezra laughed mirthlessly. "After everything I lost because of you, this is how you pay me back?"

"What are you, two?" Having had enough, Jason looked in disgust over at Ezra. "She doesn't owe you anything."

"I lost my job." Ezra sneered. "Actually both my teaching jobs because of her."

"Man, you're about to go to a place you ain't gonna be able to return from." The wild look in Ezra's eyes had Jason take a few steps closer to Aria in anticipation of the other man doing anything stupid. "Take my advice and shut up."

"Why so you can take her from me?"

"Have you lost your mind?" Aria demanded.

"Kind of a side effect from seeing my girlfriend cuddle up against someone who isn't me." Ezra snarled.

"Whoa!" Holding up her hands, Aria's mouth dropped as she processed exactly what Ezra was saying. Locking gazes with Jason, she could see from his pinched expression he was barely controlling himself from cleaning the floor with Ezra's cold, limp body. "How long exactly have you been here?"

"Does it matter?" Ezra sneered.

"Yes." Aria responded in disgust. "Because you just took our 'issue' to a whole new level. You need to leave. Like now."

"I should've known you'd bail the second things got a little messy." Showing no signs of leaving, Ezra took a threatening step toward her, only to have Jason position himself between them.

"One step closer and you'll be taken out of here on a stretcher." There was no doubt in Aria's mind that Jason would have no problem following through on this threat. His body was tense, but his fists were already clenched and ready.

Ezra seemed to take a moment to weigh his options. With a sweeping glance of Jason's larger, more muscular frame, he took a step back. "This isn't over."

"I didn't think it would be." Jason tossed back, keeping his eyes pinned on Ezra as the other man sent a scathing last look in Aria's direction before making a retreat. When the door slammed shut behind him, Aria let out a deep breath she'd been holding.

"I'm sorry about that." It was the last thing in the world she expected to hear, and Aria turned troubled eyes to where Jason stood nearly shaking. "I shouldn't have let it gone that far."

"You're joking right?" Pushing her hair away from her face, Aria felt her heart still beating double time. "You weren't responsible for any of that."

"I was here to keep an eye on you." Turning to her, Jason's mouth pinched as he shook his head in disgust.

"This had nothing to do with you Jason." Aria insisted. "We've been having issues."

"That's what you call an issue?" Pointing toward the door Ezra exited, Jason looked at her in astonishment. "Has he ever gotten like this before?"

"Like that?" Both her brows rose. "Never."

"Your boyfriend is a psychopath."

"I think we can safely assume you can place an ex in front of boyfriend at this point." Adrenaline still pumping through her veins, Aria still felt the effects of her headache playing havoc with her grey matter.

Watching as Jason opened a cupboard and grabbed a Tylenol bottle from inside. Shaking out a few in his hand, he reached over to where she was still shaking.

"If you think I'm going to willingly take any form of pills in the near future you're mistaken." Aria tried to joke, but the attempt at a smile was squashed at the anger still etched on his face. Without another word she took the pills, and the glass of water he handed to her. "How'd you know?"

"Like I've said before. I know you." Though his tone was gruff, Aria knew he was trying to hold back his temper. "Grab your stuff and I'll drive you home."

"You don't want to talk?" Knowing her last words to him before Ezra magically appeared had to be fresh on his mind, Aria felt her insides shrink when he shook his head.

"I think I need time to process." Turning his back to her, he walked out of the room and headed to the stairs to get his stuff, leaving Aria alone in the kitchen unsure if she had just made a huge mistake.

* * *

Trying not to draw attention to himself as he rushed to the parking lot, Caleb felt like his head had been split in two. Disbelief and confusion made it difficulty to think analytically. What in the hell was he supposed to do with the mess he'd fallen face first into? After everything he'd seen over the last year with all the A crap and messed up videos he'd wasn't prepared for the whole new level of insanity coming their way.

Now he just needed to figure out who to turn to with his findings. Sure Spencer had reached out to him with the job, he didn't really think she'd be anymore prepared with his discovery than he was. Hanna would totally freak out, and he wanted to protect her for as long as he could. Aria was also completely out of the question. If her parents thought she needed therapy last year, they wouldn't want to see the price tag this would set them back. And Emily had already lost too much. No, he couldn't pull them in until he had more answers.

What he needed to do was find Jason Dilaurentis. Perhaps he may be able to shed some light on what he'd seen, and give him some information to lead him on the path to figuring this cluster out.

* * *

Still unable to reach Jason, Spencer tried Aria again with no success. It was a good thing Hanna's mom was out of town on business, because she doubted there would be anyway to dig their way out of that crater of a hole.

Hurrying up the drive to her backdoor, she estimated if she had time to take a quick shower before Tobey arrived. It'd been a few days since they'd seen each other, and she hadn't really been all that attentive. If she didn't figure out a way to do an intervention on her obsessive fixation on unsolved quandaries she was going to submarine her relationship faster than she could blink.

So far Tobey had been somewhat understanding. But she could feel his hurt feelings when she hadn't paid attention to his excitement over the job he'd been working. When he'd left she'd felt horrible. So tonight she was determined to give him her total attention. If she needed to turn her phone off for a few hours it would be totally worth it.

Reaching the door, Spencer's foot hit a large box on the step and nearly fell. Crouching down, her eyes skimming the label, her frown pinched when she saw it was addressed to her. Trying to remember if she'd recently ordered anything, there was a part of her that knew who exactly sent the package.

With uncertainty, she took the box to the kitchen and set it in the center of the island. Taking a step back, her brain considered what sick and twisted thing that could be inside. Too many possibilities. For all she knew it was Alison's head surrounded by bubble wrap.

Not realizing just how long she'd been standing there, staring at the package like it was about to grow legs and tap dance across the granite counters, Spencer nearly shrieked when a loud knock cracked through the silence like a clap of thunder.

"Jesus!" Jumping, a hand to her throat, Spencer swallowed and pivoted as the back door opened in time to see Tobey poke his head in.

"Hey beautiful." He smiled over at her, his eyes nearly sparkling until he saw her expression. "What's wrong?"

"I . . ." Her eyes skirted back to the box. "You surprised me."

"Spencer." Sighing, his good mood gone, Tobey closed the door behind him and joined her in the kitchen. "Are you really going to just stand there and lie?"

So this must be how Hanna felt. Pinned in a corner, with a decision to be made. To be put in such a sickening position, and knowing no matter which path she chose someone could be hurt.

Taking her silence as confirmation that she wasn't going to explain, Tobey shook his head in defeat. "How are we supposed to make us work if you keep closing yourself off to me?"

His words were sounding too much like the ones Caleb had used when he walked away from Hanna, and the thought of losing Tobey now after everything they'd been through had bile inching it's way up her throat. The longer they stood there, silently staring at one another, the more certain Spence was that if she didn't tell him the truth this was going to be it for them. She'd tried existing without him once, and the thought of him leaving now made that time of her life seem like child's play.

As though he'd come to some decision, Tobey step forward and gently kissed her on the cheek before turning to the back door. Before his hand could wrap around the knob, Spencer felt the dam burst.

"A is back." The words just spewed from her mouth and she knew there was no going back.


	7. Chapter 7

Authors Note: Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for the kind and wonderful feedback. I know several are looking for Caleb/Hanna interaction as well as more Spencer/Toby. There is more to come. I tried to write some Caleb/Hanna into this next part, but it felt off and they fought horribly and I didn't like Caleb's tone.

Thank you all for not noticing I was misspelling Toby's name.

To enlighten anyone who actually reads author notes, my vision of Jason may be a little different than other fanfics. My favorite Rosewood boy isn't on enough to really get a handle on him. But this is what I gather. Jason is not the boy next door. He is not the vanilla boyfriend who does and says the right thing all of the time. He's done some pretty nasty things in his life, which he's recognized and is trying to move on from. We've seen his dark, angry side in the flashbacks. Jason has had a few years to grow up and learn to control his basic instincts, but what it all boils down to, he's that bad boy every girl wants. He has a temper, sees the world in shades of gray and will do anything to protect what he considers his without a second thought. This does not mean he's going to be Mr. Insane-O either. Just don't wanna have people wonder why he seems to be acting like an ass.

Toby - Started writing this before the summer finale and with the mystery I have going, it just wont fit. I find him working with/in the A team an intriguing twist. So much can be done with that. But for those who begged not to see that happen, here's me telling you it aint gonna happen.

Emily is hard as hell to write. Seriously didn't think I was going to have trouble with her. Between you all and me, she's not my favorite. Which is maybe why I keep wanting to send her on a long trip. Instead please bare with me.

Another question I have, is I am looking to moving this to a M rating in later chapters. How does this make you all feel?

~~ Seven ~~

"For the love of god will you say something?" Unable to take the silence another minute, Aria found the words spilling from her mouth at warp speed before her brain could tell her to zip it. "Yell at me. Tell me you hate me. I don't care. Just say something."

From the drivers seat, Jason barely registered her words as he signaled the car to turn right on Westbrook street. Aria watched as the tick along his jaw line jumped every few seconds and cringed when his hands nearly strangled the steering wheel in a death grip.

It seemed like an eternity before he finally spoke. "I don't hate you."

Well thank goodness for small miracles, Aria thought bitterly. "After the bombshell I dropped on you, there's got to be something you want to say."

"Aria, I really don't think right now is the best time to talk about this." The warning in his voice was clear. If she had an ounce of common sense she would've recognized he was teetering on the brink of losing control of his famous DiLaurentis anger. Instead, like the ninny she was, Aria found it nearly impossible to keep her mouth shut.

"I'm so sorry."

"What for?" Her words prompted Jason to snap to attention while taking his eyes off the road. "You didn't do anything."

"Well it doesn't feel that way." Aria responded defensively.

"Were you the one who took their girlfriend's virginity and promptly forgot about it?" His words were vicious and crude. "Did you practically throw her off the front porch the next day and tell her how gullible and easy she'd been?"

"Jason." Feeling even worse that his obvious anger wasn't directed at her but at himself, Aria twisted the silver band on her pinky.

"It's no wonder you went for someone like Fitz." With a grim smile, Jason shook his head. "You've practically turned yourself inside out to become anything but that girl I used to know. I did that to you."

"Don't be stupid." Not liking how he was suddenly taking all the responsibility, Aria sat up straighter. "My mess with Ezra had nothing to do with you."

"Really?" Swinging his head to the right, Jason gave Aria a look that he didn't buy into her claim. "So you're telling me, if things had been different and I hadn't been such a freaking loser by forgotting something so important, like sleeping with you, then turning into a bottom feeder by saying I'd used you, you still would've ended up hooking up with Ezra Fitz?"

Taken aback, Aria processed his words. "I -." She stalled.

"That's what I thought. You'd still be that slightly wild and impulsive Aria I knew. Not some pod person playing house with a guy who wears Izod socks and loafers."

"You don't get to take all the blame for this." Hating how is words were making her feel, Aria crossed her arms and glowered out the window. "And you make me sound like I turned into a some kind of plane Jane Stepford wife who stands around in an apron and pearls waiting on her man."

"Didn't you?" He challenged, feeling good to let off some of the steam boiling inside him. "When's the last time you went to a concert and danced until you were ready to drop? Climbed the water tower just to be able to see the lights and scream into the night? Or snuck off to skinny dip under the full moon?"

With every question he ticked off, Aria felt her irritation at him grow. The answer to each, was not in a very long time. Not like she'd ever say it out loud, it would only prove the point he was trying to make. Having been so preoccupied trying to out maneuver A, while trying to prove herself mature enough to be with Ezra she'd totally lost track of herself.

"Has he ever been like this before?" His tone barely civil, Jason stared moodily out the window.

"You mean totally off his rocker and downright scary?" Aria asked sarcastically. "Yeah all the time. I just love it when he re-enacts a scene from the Shining." The car fell silent again and Aria let out a sigh of relief when they reached her house.

"Thanks." Grabbing her stuff before he barely got the car into park, Aria was already opening the passenger door for a quick get away. Before she could completely escape, Jason placed a hand on her thigh to stop her.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said those things." His tone still had an edge to it, but when Aria chanced a glance at his face she saw the guilt in his eyes.

Aria struggled with a response. Too much had happened in such a small amount of time that it was hard to separate her emotions. She'd been stupid to think she could just bury her past with Jason and go on like nothing had happened. Just like she'd been stupid not to see the warning signs in her relationship with Ezra. What it boiled down to, she was the root problem.

"You weren't totally off base." Knowing there were several important factors she needed to evaluate in her life, Aria gave Jason a sad smile before slipping out of the car.

* * *

Spencer sat back on the couch as she watched Toby pace the length of the family room. He hadn't said a word since she'd finished getting him up to speed on the events since that horrible night in the cemetery. With each pass of the room, she prepared herself for his inevitable anger. While praying he'd find a way to forgive her.

"I can't believe you've been lying to me, again." With a shake of his head, Toby sunk down on the end of the couch and stared at the far wall.

"I know." Spencer groaned miserably.

Shifting to send her a hurt look, Toby sighed. "Why do you girls think you have to do this on your own?"

"Because anytime we try and reach out for help we get slapped on the hand by A. Someone always gets hurt, or killed."

Rubbing his hand down his face, Toby looked exhausted. As though her words had drained the life out of him. "I really thought all this A stuff was over."

"Join the club." Spencer muttered.

"So if Mona is A, and is currently locked up, how is this happening?"

"We don't really know." Feeling as though she needed to tread lightly, Spencer could only shrug. "We have lots of unproven theories."

"Does anyone else know? Caleb, Ezra?" Toby asked softly.

"Hanna was going to tell Caleb, but A somehow managed to hurt his mother and she couldn't go through with it." Looking slightly uncomfortable, Spencer paused.

"No more lies Spence." Toby warned his girlfriend, trying to gently persuade her to go on.

"We're not really sure where we stand on Ezra." He could tell she was having trouble letting go of the secrets she'd been protecting for so long. With a frustrated sigh she continued. "Aria found a lot of money in Ezra's sock drawer while he'd been playing the unemployed pauper. We hired Caleb to dig around for us."

"Hired?" Toby questioned.

"Let's just say he's a little bitter about being lied to."

"Sounds familiar." Toby nodded absently before looking toward the kitchen to where the box sat unopened. "Any idea what's in the box?"

"I'm praying it's not one of Ali's body parts." Spencer shuddered as her attention was drawn to the object.

Whipping his head back to stare at his girlfriend in disbelief, Toby's eyes grew. "Please tell me you're joking."

"After the last two years, I really wouldn't be shocked." Trying to make light of the situation, Spencer reached over to take Toby's hand into hers. Seeing his calm acceptance of the situation, she felt the weight being lifted off her shoulders. "I really expected you to be a little more . . ."

"Angry? Resentful? Pissed?" Toby pulled her up close to him and settled back against the couch cushions. "I'm sure I'll have my moments from time to time. But, really I guess I should've known better than to think it was all over."

"I didn't help by not telling you." Spencer spoke into his chest as she snuggled closer.

"No." He agreed, placing a soft kiss on her head. "But as long as you promise we're in this together now, we'll figure something out."

He read the doubt in her eyes, and he waited for her to fight the need to be in control. Spencer was still Spencer. Always one step ahead, mentally dissecting everything until her head hurt. She'd grown up having to prove herself to the people who should've loved her unconditionally. The shell she hid behind was thick, but he'd seen the kind, generous and loyal person underneath the prickly layers.

Finally letting out a long breath she simply nodded.

Squeezing her hand before standing, Toby nodded toward the kitchen. "Let me open it."

Wanting to be a better person by telling Toby it was her problem, she'd open it, Spencer took the less terrifying route and let him do the honors. The soft clicking sound of the mantel clock was the only noise as they both stared at the box as though it was going to suddenly sprout feet and move on it's own.

With steady hands, Toby reached for a knife and grasped it in his hand before running it along the taped seam. The flaps sprung open, and Toby flinched slightly before glancing up to where Spencer waited like a frozen statue. The fear in her eyes made him want to fling the offending object on the floor and stomp on it.

"Well?" Unable to take the suspense, Spencer took a hesitant step forward.

Peering down into the opening he looked at the pastel tissue paper with unease. Reaching in, he pushed it aside and frowned. "There's four dolls."

"What's with the freaking dolls?" Spencer groused, hurrying over to stand next to Toby.

"There's a card." Not finding any real threat, Toby reached into the box and pulled a pink envelope out and tore it open. "One baby, Two babies, Three Babies, Four Babies in all. Three different Mother's and One Father to them all."

Taking the card from Toby's hand, Spencer re-read the words before turning the card over. "Time to put your brain to the test. I Dare you to unravel your quest. A."

"What in the hell is that supposed to mean?" His eyes read through the scrawl one more time before looking back inside the box.

"It's A's newest game of Truth and Dare." Spencer spat as she dropped the card back in the box and glared at the four dolls inside. "That's not right."

"What's not right?" Toby asked, not seeing what had Spencer frowning.

"The dolls. There's two blondes and two brunettes." Reaching in, she pulled out the two brunette dolls and studied them for a moment before placing them down and going for the blondes. "There's three brunettes and one blonde."

Catching on, Toby nodded. "You, Emily and Aria are the brunettes and Hanna's the blonde."

"Yeah." She responded numbly.

"So what happens when if we can't figure out the dare?"

"You don't wanna know." Staring down at the blondes, Spencer studied their identical features. "Let's just say all the hospital visits are usually the result of us pissing A off."

"Jesus." Toby muttered.

"I wonder why the blondes are the same and the brunettes are different?" Spencer murmured, as she set down the two dolls she was holding next to the other ones and stood back to get a good look at them all.

"Do you really think it means something?"

"A. never does anything without a reason." Looking up at his troubled expression, Spencer took his hand in hers. "You sure you want to stick around for this?"

"I'm not going anywhere." Giving her hand a gentle squeeze, Toby vowed he was going to be by her side until this nightmare ended.

* * *

Watching as Jason pulled his convertible into the driveway, Caleb stood from his spot on the top step of the porch and watched as the man in question headed toward him. He knew next to nothing about the infamous DiLaurentis, except he was Spencer's secret half-brother and the older brother of the girls' dead best friend. Other than that, he'd seen Jason around the halls of Rosewood High as he counseled several of the 'troubled' youth in community. So far he'd escaped any mandatory meetings with Jason, and he hoped to keep it that way.

Waiting until Jason realized his presence, Caleb tensed until the older male stopped dead in his tracks and snapped his gaze in his direction. Let the games begin, Caleb muttered silently as he took a hesitant step down a step. "You don't know me, I'm -."

"Caleb Rivers." Jason interrupted. "You're Hanna's boyfriend."

"Actually ex-boyfriend." Trying to sound blasé, Caleb couldn't help but feel a stab of pain in the center of his heart. "For now anyways."

""Is there something I can do for you?" Jason asked in a tone that clearly meant he was in no mood for company.

"I was working on something for a . . . friend." Wishing he'd done something totally girly, like figure out what he was going to say once he came face to face with Jason, Caleb felt out of his element.

"And?" Jason supplied, trying to hurry the other male to get to the point.

"Listen, this is really off the rails for me." Deciding to start over, Caleb ran a hand over his mouth as he reformulated a plan. "I think the girls are in danger."

Relieved to see the irritation ease from Jason's face, Caleb decided to continue onward. "I just need you to take a look at something for me."

"What?" Jason's brow lowered over suspicious eyes, but Caleb marked his still standing there as a sign of victory.

"Can we go inside?" The last thing Caleb wanted to do was stand out in the open for anyone to see. If there was one thing he'd learned over the last year, was there were very few safe places in Rosewood. Seeing that Spencer's brother didn't appear overly excited with the suggestion , Caleb lowered his voice. "It's really not something I feel safe discussing out in the open like this."

Against his better judgment, Jason shook his head as he led through the front door and into his home. "Thanks."

"Listen, I don't mean to be rude, but I'm not having the best day." Tossing his keys onto the hallway table, Jason shoved his hands into the front pockets of his jeans and eyed Caleb as he pulled a laptop from the dark bag.

"I can't promise this will help any." The younger male responded dryly as he headed to the living room off to the right of the entryway. "Listen, I'm not a wordy kind of guy and I'm sure there's a better way of explaining this."

Sitting down and flipping open the device, Caleb waited as it booted up. "Spencer asked me to look into Aria's boyfriend."

"Ezra Fitz?" Intrigued, Jason left the spot near the front door and positioned himself to see the screen.

"That's what he's known around Rosewood by." Fingers flying over the keyboard, Caleb glanced up to see the dark expression on Jason's face. "He legally changed it a few years ago. He was Ezra Fitzgerald."

"Why would he do that?"

"I can't say." Caleb answered. "Especially since his family has ties to the Boston Springer's"

Looking thoughtful, Jason edged closer. "The philanthropist Springer's?" Stunned Jason sat down on the couch next to Caleb.

"Yeah." Caleb answered slowly, his eyes studying Jason's expression. "Know them?"

Laughing dryly, Jason shook his head. "My family may have money, but we're not exactly in the same league."

"I hate to do this to you man." Letting out a shaky breath, Caleb pulled up the favorites in his browser and hesitated. "But I found this picture today and well . . . Just look."

Clicking the link before jumping up from the couch, Caleb stood a few feet away. Feeling his heart beat painfully inside his chest, and hated himself for doing this. But what other option did he have?

"What the fuck?" The color drained from Jason's face, the longer he sat there staring at the screen. "This can't be . . . What in the hell is this?" Standing up abruptly, Jason's body was taunt with anger as he sent an accusing glare in Caleb's direction. "Is this your sick idea of a joke?"

"Hell no." Caleb snapped back. "You don't think I wasn't shitting myself when I stumbled onto that picture?"

Running a hand through his hair, Jason stared down at the screen before looking away. "That's impossible."

"I need to ask." Licking at his dry lips, Caleb was ridiculously happy to be standing out of Jason's reach. "Did Alison know Ezra?"

"Not at thirteen." Jason snapped. "The date in the caption is 2006." Unable to stop himself from looking back at the offending image, Jason felt sick. It was a publicly shot from an art opening, in Boston Massachusetts. There was no mistaking Ezra's smirking face, but the blonde standing grinning next to him looked so much like Alison did at that age, it was nerve wracking. "Ezra and Courtney Fitzgerald at the Boston début of the Timeless Art Exhibit."

His head spun as his eyes skipped back to the picture. Everything about the petite blonde screamed Alison. Her eyes, pert little nose, even the stubborn lift of her chin. The only difference was the hair. Shorter by several inches, Jason knew Alison never had worn her hair that length.

"Were there any other pictures?" Caleb nodded mutely as he returned to the computer and brought them up for Jason to see. "What in the hell is going on?" There was no way this was just some freaky coincidence.

"I was kind of hoping you had an answer." Caleb lowered himself back on the couch when it became apparent Jason wasn't going to become physical. "Spencer's head is going to explode when she sees this."

Swinging his head quick enough to give him whiplash, Jason's eyes green eyes turned frosty. "Then don't show her."

"She's expecting some kind of information." Caleb countered. "It doesn't sit right, knowing Aria could be in danger if I keep this to myself. She's too devoted of a person to just walk away without proof Ezra isn't who he says he is."

"I can guarantee the blinders are off as far as that douche is concerned." Jason let out a mirthless laugh earning him a suspicious glance. "I'll worry about keeping Aria safe. I need you to dig around some more."

"And what am I supposed to tell Spencer?" Caleb challenged.

"Tell her you couldn't find anything, will keep looking and leave it at that for now." The last thing he needed was for Spencer to start sticking her nose into this. She had a reputation of being a pit-bull when faced with an unsolved mystery and if they wanted to find any answers the situation needed to be handled delicately.

"It doesn't feel right lying to them about something this huge." Packing up his laptop, Caleb wondered if he'd made a huge error by contacting Jason. Maybe he should've dealt with Hanna's predictable outburst and meltdown instead.

A dark smirk tugged at Jason's lips. "Are you telling me they haven't kept stuff from you?" Snorting when Caleb glanced away, Jason knew he'd hit a sore spot. "Besides, I have a feeling you aren't quiet the Boy Scout yourself."

Standing up, Caleb secured the strap of his bag over his shoulder before giving Jason a long look. "Fine, I'll do this on one condition."

Crossing his arms over his chest, Jason titled his head to the side and waited. "That when we've got some answers we're telling them."

It wasn't as though he'd intended to keep them in the dark forever. He just needed some answers before dropping this new development on them. "Fine. But we tell them together."

Heading to the front door, Caleb paused. "So how do you want me to contact you? I can't just be dropping by, Spencer will see me sooner or later."

The younger man had a valid point. Formulating a plan, Jason knew there was only one plausible way to meet up without making the girls suspicious. "I'll have your guidance counselor sign you up to meet with me twice a week. I'm sure I won't have any trouble convincing them you're a troubled youth."

Hating the idea, Caleb knew it was pointless to argue. There weren't too many other ways to hook up with out raising a few red flags. "Fine. But I refuse to talk about my feelings." Slamming the door behind him, he stalked down the drive to where he left his car down the street.

* * *

Sitting on the couch across from her father, Aria sent a dirty look to the woman to his right. It was bad enough her Father decided to pick today of all days to pretend he was Father of the year. But to have his cow of a girlfriend, the woman who'd started the nasty mess her family was in now, sitting at his side to witness her humiliation was the icing on the cake.

"Leaving in the middle of the night is totally unacceptable." Byron's voice droned on in his atypical stern tone, the one he used when he wanted his audience to see him as rock solid. It'd been a long time since Aria had believed her father to be a good guy, and the realization had been a bitter pill to swallow. "Did you go to Ezra's?"

The venomous way her father nearly spat at her, had Aria jerking herself up right and glaring across the short distance between them. "No."

"Why should I believe you?" Staring at him, disgusted by the show he was giving to impress his hag, Aria folded her arms over her chest in defiance. "I guess there isn't any reason for you to believe me. Trust hasn't been a huge thing in this house for a long time."

Her words hit him as intended and she felt a smug satisfaction to see his stunned reaction before casting a careful look toward the blonde next to him who's haughty attitude had been knocked down a notch.

"That was uncalled for." Seeing the vein protruding from his forehead, Aria wondered just how much it cost him not to yell. "If you weren't with Ezra where were you?"

"I was at Hanna's." With no reason to lie, she stared unblinking into her father's face. "I didn't feel good when I woke up and slept there."

Her absence from school seemed to be news to him, and Aria mentally kicked herself for revealing too much. "So you missed school."

"Yes." Nodding slowly, Aria restrained from rolling her eyes. "Like I've done before when I wasn't feeling good."

"Your grounded." As if she hadn't seen that outcome the second her father cornered her in the entryway.

"For how long?" It was the last bit of information she needed to conclude their father-daughter bonding so she could escape to her room.

"A month." That wasn't what she anticipated.

"You're joking. Mike didn't even get grounded that long for breaking into our neighbors homes."

Not like being reminded of that dark period of their lives, especially not in front of his new friend, Byron grit his teeth. "This is non-negotiable. You're to go to school and straight home. No television, computer or cell phone."

No television? Aria wanted to laugh. How old did he think she was, five? The other two conditions were absolutely out of question. The last thing she needed now was being off the grid , as A started a game to torture them.

"Fine." Ignoring her father's outstretched hand to receive her phone, Aria picked up her bag and headed to the front door.

"Where do you think you're going?" Following her, Aria waited until she was safely on the front steps before turning around.

"To Mom's." Saying it like it was the most obvious thing in the world, Aria let her eyes travel down her father's form and shook her head sadly. "I only stayed here for Mike, so he wasn't alone. But I'm not living in a house with a hypocrite who doesn't have the decency not to bring around the woman who destroyed his family."

Again her words were a direct hit, unlike last time she felt her heart hurt a little as she turned from the home she grew up in.

* * *

"Mom?" Closing the front door behind her, Emily set down her stuff before heading to the kitchen for a snack.

"In here." Her feet re-routed to the living room to find her mother reading through a mountain of paperwork.

"What's all that?" Signaling to the packet her mother was holding, Emily watched as her mother's face came to life.

"I've decided to return to work." Excitement danced in her eyes, and Emily couldn't help but be happy for her.

"That's great."

"You think?"

"Yeah. I know you've been stir crazy in the house, I think this is a good thing."

"I just didn't realize how much has changed since I left to be a stay at home mom. There's a few courses I need to take to renew my RN license."

"You'll do fine."

Pam's smile wobbled a little as she took in the paperwork in front of her. "Who am I kidding? With everything you've been through the last few years, I'd be selfish to go back now."

A pang of regret for all the trouble she'd caused for her mother, Emily took her mom's hands into hers. "I'm fine. Between school, my job at The Brew and practice I'm rarely around here."

"But you need me."

"I'll always need you." Sending her mother a reassuring gaze, Emily picked up the paperwork Pam had dropped in her lap. "But don't use me as an excuse because your too scared to go back to the real world."

"You've always been perceptive."

Standing, Emily patted her mother's shoulder. "Just one of the many traits I got from you."

"I totally forgot, Paige called here for you." Nodding to the pad of paper near the phone, Pam noticed the dark clouds in her daughters eyes. "Is something wrong?"

"No." Emily muttered. "She caught up with me at school. A group she's part of is making a float in Maya's memory for the Homecoming parade."

"Oh." Caught between sympathy for her daughter and concern for Emily's disgruntled expression, Pam treaded carefully. "And you think this is a bad thing."

"Yes." Emily cried heatedly. "They didn't know Maya, and they're doing it for all the wrong reasons."

"Everyone grieves in their own way." Knowing her daughter was the last person in the world who needed to be lectured on grieving, Pam struggled to help her daughter through her anger. "Just because they didn't know Maya like you did, doesn't mean they can't feel something about the tragedy."

"That's not it." Emily argued. "Most of these people don't even live in Rosewood. It's a gay support group parents created so they could network. It has nothing to do with supporting their children. They're using Maya's death as a platform."

"And you're upset that they're using Maya like this."

"Exactly."

"Then maybe you should ask to be part of the project to make sure it's about Maya." Seeing the face Emily made at the suggestion, Pam decided to say one last thing then let the matter drop. "Whatever you decide, I am sure Maya knew you cared for her."

Swallowing harshly, Emily summonsed up a weak smile before excusing herself to her bedroom.


End file.
